Watch CBS News

Police: 'Big Bro' And 'Little Bro' Turned East Harlem Into 'Drug Destination'

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Lamont and Bernard Moultrie, known as "Big Bro" and "Little Bro" turned the Milbank-Frawley Houses in East Harlem into an open-air drug market.

The men are accused of selling $1 million worth of angel dust along with heroin and cocaine each year.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan Reports

Podcast

"They made Milbank-Frawley Houses a drug destination. In fact, demand was such that lines formed in the development's courtyard where the drugs were sold," Kelly said.

The commissioner said that even as the neighborhood improved over the years, drugs sales over the last 15 months began to attract addicts from other boroughs, Long Island and New Jersey.

Officials said the men even used an 8-year-old relative as lookout.

"Neighbors told us that they walked in their hallways and streets in fear as their community filled up every afternoon with those people who were selling and buying drugs," Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said.

Both suspects, accused of being the leaders of the ring, have been indicted on multiple charges of conspiracy, criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance.   A total of 35 people were indicted in the ring.

Share your thoughts in the comments section below...

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.