By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Police arrested 17 members of two cooperating neighborhood gangs in Inwood for selling cocaine and ecstasy on Vermilyea Avenue, the NYPD said Tuesday.
The arrests came after a nine-month undercover operation led by the Manhattan North Narcotics Bureau. The investigation found the gangs worked together using the same lookouts, routinely shared customers, and disabled streetlights and surveillance cameras in the area, the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office confirmed Tuesday.
The alleged drug dealers are facing 31-felony counts, including several A-1 felony sales, which carry state mandatory prison sentences of at least 15 years to life.
The two gangs allegedly sold drugs for three years on Vermilyea Avenue in the area spanning West 207th Street to Academy Street, setting up their base in building lobbies.
The NYPD launched the investigation after residents complained of drug deals in the lobbies.
“It was a large group of young people creating an intolerable situation for residents who live in the neighborhood," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan told DNAinfo.
"The presence of drug dealers in your hallways is intimidating enough. ... With this action, we hope to bring some peace to the neighborhood and satisfaction to the residents who live there.”
The bust happened after the undercover officers made dozens of purchases from the gangs, netting 1,550 ecstasy pills, seven ounces of cocaine and marijuana, police said.
