Father, Son Face Charges In Long Island Drug Bust
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A father and son were among eight people arrested in a drug bust on Long Island, which prosecutors called the biggest heroin operation in Suffolk County history.
As WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported, Richard Bruno Jr., 26, of Holbrook, is accused of dealing heroin and cocaine in multiple Long Island municipalities.
His father, Richard Bruno Sr., 59, faces drug possession charges for allegedly storing much of the heroin in the attic of his Farmingville home, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported, investigators said the Brunos sold heroin to high school students, and alleged that their grip extended from Brooklyn east to the Hamptons.
Many young people have died of drug overdoses on Long Island – young people leaving behind families in crisis.
"My family is broken. My family is never ever going to be whole again, ever," said Terri Kroll, who lost her son to an overdose.
"The availability of the drugs to these children today is the sin," another woman said.
The fact that a father and son were allegedly involved in heroin trafficking is a travesty, Spota said.
"It's tragic," Spota said "Here is the father who is an adviser to his son, and storing all of this heroin in his house."
On Cedar Oaks Avenue in Farmingville, investigators said the Bruno home was stuffed to the rafters with 19,000 glassine envelopes and with chunks of uncut pure heroin – ready for sale and distribution.
Bruno Jr. allegedly earmarked the drugs for his old high school nature, as well as Ronkonkoma, Babylon, Centereach, Selden, Stony Brook, and Westhampton.
In an average high school, Suffolk County Sheriff Michael Sharkey said, the number of envelopes seized "would be 10 bags of heroin for every student in that high school. Make no mistake that these people are targeting those students."
Authorities also allegedly seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, semiautomatic weapons and a defaced handgun.
Kroll spoke out to help stop the spread.
"This is a step in the right direction, so that hopefully there's not another mom standing here next to me," Kroll said.
Parents of young addicts said arrests are helpful, but more education is needed -- as well as insurance companies willing to foot the bill for drug treatment.
Authorities said several of the suspects bragged about their lives as drug dealers.
Bruno Jr. and two other men charged in the case are being held on $1.5 million cash bail.
