14 Years Later

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14 Years Later:
The Greenburgh Drug & Alcohol Task Force
By
Anna Young
Submitted to the Board of Journalism
School of Humanities
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Bachelor Of Arts
Purchase College
State University of New York
May 2016
Sponsor’s Name: Brian Kates
Second Reader: Louis Lazar

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“I have my 3-year-old son with me, so I’m going to give you a music CD with the drugs
in it.”
Mike McGee, an undercover Tarrytown cop in suburban Greenburgh, N.Y., shakes his
head in disbelief. It’s a text message from a drug dealer McGee has lured into selling him
Xanax-- A sedative used to treat anxiety and panic which can lead to a fast, addiction-
producing high.
McGee reads the text message to the officers in the 500-square-foot squad room.
“Oh man, selling drugs with a kid in the car?” said unit supervisor Sgt. Harold Young, a
35-year veteran officer and leader of the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol Task Force.
“Well, that’s another charge right there,” said Det. Brian Hennessy, a 44-year-old Dobbs
Ferry officer whose expertise on drugs has kept him a member of the task force for 14
years.
“So let’s go and get this over with,” McGee said, getting up from his cluttered desk.
Half an hour later, on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in December, the team is in place in a
parking lot beneath a New York sports club in a mini-mall just off the Saw Mill River
Parkway in Dobbs Ferry, 12 miles from the Bronx. McGee is in a car backed in toward
the rear of the lot; Hennessy and Patrol Officer Stephen Foltin, a 45-year-old Greenburgh
officer reaching his 20-year mark on the force, take up posts in the middle of the lot
where they can watch the exchange and blend in; Young, parked in his undercover pick-
up truck at the sole entrance, watches for the suspect’s blue Toyota Camry.
The target: A 25-year-old white male with no arrest record believed to be selling the
prescription drugs Oxycodone, Xanax, Valium, Soboxone and the high-powered
marijuana known as Colorado Kush.
The target arrives at 12:30 p.m., pulls into the lot past Hennessy and Foltin, who get a
good look at him--white male, black hair wearing a black hat--and his son, strapped into a
car seat in the back of the Camry. He backs into a parking spot. McGee gets out of his
car two spaces away and gets into the suspect’s.
With a cellphone in McGee’s pocket recording every word for Hennessy and Foltin to
hear, the target begins by introducing his son. They exchange small talk and the suspect
hands over the drugs in exchange for the agreed to $150.
The target drives off, with Young discreetly following him to the parkway, just to make
sure he doesn’t double back to trail the undercovers.

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Back in the squad room, McGee hands Hennessy a Camel Cigarette box instead of the
promised CD. Inside is a sealed plastic bag with 38 bars of Xanax, known as Xani-bars
on the street because they are scored to break in four pieces.
After conducting four buys from the target, he was arrested twice in January and two
more times in February, charged with criminal sale and possession of a controlled
substance. After obtaining a search warrant, he was also charged with possession of
roughly 2,600 pills that was found in his home.
Like the informant that gave him up, the target decided it would be in his best interest to
start naming names. In exchange for his cooperation, he wasn’t charged with endangering
the welfare of a minor.
The target’s arrest in early 2016 is only one of 5,200 the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol
Task Force have made since its inception in 2002.
Now, with Young—who has led the unit from the start—about to retire, the direction and
future of the task force is still up in the air despite the units success.
The task force, which operates in the 31-square-mile town of Greenburgh—an affluent
community in central Westchester that includes a large unincorporated area and the
incorporated villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-On-Hudson, Irvington
and Tarrytown—grew out of a series of high-profile incidents of underage drinking and
drug abuse.
In 2001, parents of a Horace Greeley football player were arrested after police busted a
party in the parents home, where they discovered an overwhelming amount of beer and a
stripper performing with the parents’ consent. The parents, who were arrested for
endangering the welfare of a child, were sentenced to a year of probation, 100 hours of
community service and both lost their jobs.

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Then, in April 2002, 17-year-old Robert Viscone was pronounced dead after a drunken
fistfight during an after school house party in Harrison. The 16-year-old boy who threw
the punch was charged with misdemeanor assault.
School districts and members of the community demanded something be done.
Dobbs Ferry Chief of Police George Longworth and Greenburgh Detective Division
Captain Joseph Delio began developing the idea of creating a cross-jurisdictional unit of
plain-clothes officers who would share intelligence and work together under a single
chain of command.
“Historically, most municipal police chiefs are parochial so they don’t like letting
outsiders in to let them work in their place,” Longworth said. “That was an obstacle
myself and Capt. Delio had to face for quite a few months.”
Finally, on Dec. 17, 2002, the police department of the town of Greenburgh and the,
villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington and Tarrytown announced the
formation of a Drug and Alcohol Task Force.
The goal: “To reduce the illegal sale and possession of alcohol, marijuana, controlled
substances within unincorporated Greenburgh and the villages,” especially underage
drinking and drug use. With drug traffickers often moving between jurisdictions, the
announcement noted, the Task Force “will allow the pooling and sharing of personnel,
equipment and intelligence and allow for cohesive investigations.”
The villages’ Chiefs of Police unanimously chose Young to lead the unit.
Young, a 62-year-old husband and father of two, had spent 14 years working in the
Greenburgh Street Crime Division, serving as the commanding officer for five years.
Working in street crime had given Young the street level narcotics experience that
Longworth felt was necessary to running the new task force.
“When you have guys with guns, plain clothes and unmarked cars-- sending them out to
do all types of things that could result in lawsuits and bad press with the police
department, you want someone who knows what to do because it can expose you to a lot
of liabilities, especially when the work requires covert operations and unmarked cars,”
Longworth said.
Greenburgh Detective Dennis DiMele, whom Young calls “the best narcotics cop in
Westchester,” was chosen as lead detective and given responsibility for training the
village cops entering the unit.
The Villages of Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington and Ardsley each provided full-time
officers to effort with the Village of Hastings and Elmsford providing part-time support

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because their departments were too small to detach officers full-time. The five-member
team would be augmented with patrol officers placed undercover on a part-time basis. All
reported to both Young and their home department.
Participating departments are responsible for the full cost of the officers’ salaries,
including overtime, but since 2008 the GDATF has paid for all other costs itself such as,
office space, special weapons, vehicles, drug buy money, etc.
“As we made our arrests,” Young said, “we would seize money and get our percentage.”
After 14 years, Young is proud to say the task force has grown to $500,000.
Success came quickly. “Within months the task force had made several arrests,”
Longworth said. “That definitely helped build its credibility.”
In Feb. 2003, only two months after the unit was formed, it made headlines with the raid
of a party in a house where 16 teenagers were arrested amid a litter of beer cans and
bottles of hard liquor. Several teens were found with Ritalin tablets and a 17-year-old girl
was charged with marijuana possession. The 26 teenagers under the age of 16 who were
too young to be charged were referred to the departments juvenile unit.
At the time of the arrest, Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, praised the task force for
“definitely making a mark” and said that “once kids and parents realize that there’s a
better chance of being caught” these incidents will decrease.
Within the first year, the task force made 341 arrests, including 151 drug related arrests
and 147 alcohol related arrests.
Today, Feiner believes the task force has been a positive force for the town. “If we could
save one life and the task force members can influence even a handful of young people to
be more responsible, it’s worth it,” Feiner said.
With the success of the task force, the Village of Sleepy Hollow and North Castle, both
outside the Town of Greenburgh, requested that the unit operate in their jurisdictions. As
of Jan. 2016, the GDATF made roughly 225 arrests in Sleepy Hollow and roughly 98
arrests in North Castle.

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The selected officers of the task force have a clear cut mission—get information,
investigate it, write a warrant and make an arrest. With members of the task force cycling
in and out due to promotion, retirement or injury, the task force currently employs eight
officers:
Detective Brian Hennessy from Dobbs Ferry, married with two kids who moonlighted as
owner of the Pleasantville Dawghouse until it shutdown in 2015, has been in the task
force since its inception in 2002.
A former NYPD cop, Young calls him “the best crime scene detective in Westchester
County.” “Since he was our crime scene photographer, I asked him to be the
photographer at both my daughters Bat Mitzvahs,” Young said.
Former narcotics investigator from Ulster County, Detective John Sheeley joined Ardsley
police as a patrolman in 2001 and was placed in the task force in early 2003. “He came
with good working knowledge of narcotics and it would have been hard to find success
without him,” Young said. In 2010, when DiMele retired due to an injury sustained on an
arrest, Sheeley stepped up and took the reins as the units lead detective.
Currently, Sheeley is out disabled due to an on-duty vehicle accident that took place in
2013.
North Castle Detective Patsy DeBenedictis joined the task force part-time in 2006 after
conducting several drug related arrests in North Castle. “Due to his gift of gab, Patsy is a
great interviewer and gets great information during arrests,” Young said.
Detective Kevin Johnson from Irvington, a former NYPD cop and father of four, joined
the task force in 2006 after being promoted to detective.
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Ardsley Detective Ron Perkins joined the task force in 2009. His experience on the
SWAT team gives him an edge when handling situations that require patience and follow
through.
Hastings-on-Hudson Patrolman John Danahy has been a part-time member of the unit
since 2010.
Former NYPD cop, Tarrytown Patrolman Mike McGee, 6 foot 3 and a boxer, was made a
full-time member in 2012. McGee is the go-to-guy for undercover drug operations
sporting a scruffy beard and dressed in baggy clothing at all times. At 38, he is the
youngest member of the team.
Greenburgh Patrolman Gary Burnett joined the GDATF in 2010 after serving as a
sergeant in the United States Army Rangers. As a man who can handle himself, Burnett
is also used for undercover operations.
Greenburgh Patrolman Stephen Foltin was a member of the Greenburgh Street Crime
Unit before joining the task force in 2010. With his vast knowledge of narcotics, Foltin is
always sent out on patrol to make arrests.
(100 pounds of marijuana- 2010)

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Throughout the years, the GDATF has been successful in reducing the number of alcohol
related arrests by responding to tips and conducting undercover alcohol buys in local
establishments.
Since the beginning, alcohol related arrests has risen and fallen from year-to-year
reaching a high on 183 in 2006 and dropping to a low of 43 in 2013.
Teen drinking has been a target from the start with drunken house parties being a major
concern.
Finding the culprits was relatively simple. The task force typically would sit at 7-Elevens,
gas stations and supermarkets on a Friday or Saturday night looking for young people
purchasing a large amount of alcohol. “We’d see a kid of age coming out of the store
with almost six cases of beer and he’ll be meeting someone younger outside,” Young
said. With suspicions high, the task force would typically follow the car eventually
leading them to a house swarming with teenagers.
In the beginning, the unit relied on tips from angry neighbors or kids annoyed that they
weren’t invited.
When it comes to busting a party, the task force is concerned more with the teens’ safety
than with making arrests. “We’ll surround the house blocking exits to keep kids from
running out of the house drunk and into the streets,” Young said. “We never just knock
on the door.”
And, Young added, they don’t bust a party with the intent of charging kids. An underage
drinking conviction carries a $50 fine and participation in a court-ordered course on the
dangers of drinking.
But parents who look the other way at underage drinking are another matter.
“When parents are caught serving alcohol or aware of alcohol being consumed during
these parties, we will make an arrest,” Young said. “Sometimes,” he said, “After teens
have been arrested at a house party and mom and dad are called to pick them up, they
arrive drunk or tipsy.” That is most likely to happen, he said, “in affluent
neighborhoods.”
With drinking parties more tamed now, the unit still relies on tips to search a party.
When teenagers are caught breaking the law they are given the opportunity to work off
their charges by the GDATF. Young will get parental permission to hire teenagers as
undercover agents to help monitor alcohol sales in bars, restaurants and stores.

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Teen undercovers are told not to reveal their age. When asked, they are to respond ‘old
enough’. If an ID is requested, undercovers are instructed to act like they lost it hoping
the cashier is sympathetic.
In the early years of the task force, Young would generally give a warning on first
offenses hoping the establishment would become stricter. “These businesses pay our
salary, so it was the right thing to do in the beginning,” Young said. When the
establishment was caught a second time Young began writing up the stores. “By charging
them, they became more aware of the law being broken and we need people knowing we
are out on the streets doing our job,” Young said.
The first charge is a $3,000 fine and each time a store is caught the fine is increased in
$1,500 increments.
Before supermarkets were required by law to record customers’ date of birth when
purchasing alcohol, Young would have his undercover seek young cashiers who would
be embarrassed to ask for ID. “We weren’t looking to get the cashier fired, we just made
sure the manager was aware of what took place and that they needed to educate their
employees better,” Young said.
“There is no downside to asking someone for their ID,” Young said. “We had kids
passing for 21 and they were really 17 or 18, but I think even if someone looks 30, you
should still ID them to be careful.”
The GDATF has also experienced situations where the cashier refused the sale but a
person of age would step forward to make the sale for the undercover. “In that case we
lock the buyer up for unlawfully dealing with a child in the 1st degree.
With stores more aware of the law and wanting to avoid the heavy fine, the task force
will conduct these stings at least two times a year. When a new business opens they put
forth an undercover sting immediately.
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Alcohol Related Arrests
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With a variety of methods to identify a drug dealer or user in order to make an arrest,
these are a few methods the GDATF practices most often.
A vehicle stop is just one of the many ways the GDATF conducts drug busts. On a quiet
day or night, Young will send his guys out to patrol areas identified as “drug prone”
locations.
The unit will observe “hand to hand” transactions then proceed to follow the vehicle.
After reaching a safe location, the task force will conduct a traffic stop. If the parties in
the car have conflicting stories, which many times they do, action is taken.
A drug RIP is a slang term for stop and question after an informant gives up a dealer.
When the GDATF is given the phone number of the dealer, they arrange a buy using a
phone that can’t be traced back to the department. When facts are confirmed and a brief
investigation reveals the target is the dealer, an arrest is made.
Undercover drug buys is a type of investigation involving confidential informants who
make introductions between the undercover police officer and the drug dealers. When the
introduction is made, the informant’s role is done and the undercover takes over
contacting the dealer, arranging meetings and buying narcotics.
Search warrant cases are made possible when enough evidence is gathered. When an
affidavit is submitted and has enough supporting information, a judge will issue an order
for the person, vehicle or location and the GDTAF is given ten days to execute the
warrant, locate evidence and effect an arrest.
When approached with the question of how the task force gained their success and
support, Young says it’s simple “good police work.”
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Some of their best police work came in May 2014 after the task force led an 11-month
investigation with the assistance of hundreds of law enforcement agents from several
locations—state and federal— in order to take down members of a major narcotics
trafficking ring known as the Nieto Organization.
A standard cocaine arrest in at the Apple Motor Inn in Ardsley in 2013 led to the flipping
of at least five suspects who provided information on the Nieto Organization. Interviews
revealed they worked out of Rockland County, the Bronx, New York City, Newburgh,
Albany, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. As the investigation continued,
members of the Nieto organization were identified traveling upstate with several kilos of
cocaine as well as pounds of high-grade marijuana every week.
During the electronic surveillance portion of the investigation, eavesdropping warrants
were approved for wire taps of 21 cell phones, though this was made difficult due to
members of the organization frequently disposing of phones and using individual phones
for specific customers. One member was observed buying and activating over a dozen
cell phones at one time.
In addition to wire taps, GPS tracking warrants for multiple vehicles equipped with
hydraulic traps used to transport large amounts of cocaine and marijuana, were obtained
and installed. Video surveillance of multiple locations was conducted with ten pole
cameras installed in multiple locations in the Bronx, Westchester and Newburgh.
As the investigation continued, the task force arrested several members of the
organization for criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 1st degree in
Westchester and Albany counties prior to the initial take down.
On May 8th, search warrants were executed simultaneously at 24 locations over four
counties and 27 individuals were arrested on high-level state and federal narcotics
possession and distribution charges. Additional warrants were executed in order to search
vehicles, storage units and safety deposit boxes.
Below is a list of contraband and proceeds recovered during the investigation:
 Approx. 7.5 kilos of cocaine
 45 pounds of marijuana
 11 illegal handguns
 10 vehicles, 5 of which had hydraulic trap compartments
 Over 2 million dollars
In addition, quantities of steroids, hypodermic needles, narcotics packaging equipment
including 4 hydraulic kilo presses, pounds of cutting agents, hundreds of cell phones,
drug records, multiple bullet proof vests, two illegal shot guns were recovered and over a

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quarter of a million dollars in precious metals and jewelry including $250,000 in Rolex
watches.
Numerous members of the organization, including Juan Nieto and Jason Nieto, face 20
years to life in state prison.
Following the investigation, the task force was honored with the Journal News Macy
Award for Police Excellence and the Unit Citation Award from the New York State
Shields Organization.
These are some of the cases the task force has made headlines doing:
 In March 2004, 36-year-old bus driver William Moore was arrested after crack-
cocaine was found in his car. After being caught driving under the influence of
drugs just one month prior, the GDATF kept a close watch on Moore. School bus
monitor Julia Spielmann was also arrested-- she was a passenger in Moore’s car.
 In June 2008, George Jimenez, a 24-year-old Bronx native was charged with
third-degree criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance. The result of
a long-term narcotics investigation in Irvington, Tarrytown, Elmsford and
Greenburgh Jimenez was found with over one-half ounce of cocaine.
 In April 2013, the task force arrested three people-- Tory Keyser, Thomas
Muskey and Wilbert Taylor—after Keyser was spotted walking through a parking
lot with an alleged hypodermic syringe sticking out of her pocket. After a traffic
stop was conducted, 980 glassine envelopes of heroin were found in the trunk of
the car. They were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled
substance.
 In June 2013, the GDATF arrested Igor Kaplunovksy for second-degree criminal
possession of marijuana when he was seen Kaplunovksy peeking into car

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windows and acting suspiciously in a shopping center in Tarrytown. Upon being
questioned, Kaplunovksy voluntarily admitted to be in possession of joint. When
asked to step out of his vehicle, he went onto admit that he had a little more than a
joint—he had about four and a half pounds of marijuana. The GDATF recovered
more than 100 marijuana plants along with more than ten pounds of processed
marijuana in Kaplunovksy’s home.
 In June 2014, seven people were arrested on heroin and crack-cocaine charges
after two search warrants were executed simultaneously in Greenburgh. Michael
Dale, Margaret Thompkins, Lewis Thomas, Sandra Daniels were all arrested and
charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. Gregory Tompkins,
and Tamika Hall were arrested with criminal possession of a controlled substance
and endangering the welfare of a child when six children were found in their
residence.
(This chart includes communities outside the task force’s jurisdiction. Outside police
departments allow the task force to lead their men to make an arrest.)
Like many communities nationwide, Greenburgh struggles with an overwhelming rise in
heroin use, especially among young people.
“Lately, we have more and more young people, 18-30, who have a problem with either
heroin or prescription drugs,” said Dr. Brendan Miller, of High Watch Recovery Center
in Warren, Conn. “What happens is a lot of young people either get prescribed painkillers
or find them in their parents medicine chests or friends have them. Once they become
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addicted to the prescription drugs, they figure out it can get expensive so they turn to
heroin as a cheaper alternative for the same high.”
“With $30 dollars a pill out of a young adult’s price range, they will seek a bag of heroin
that could be anywhere from $6-$15 dollars,” Foltin said.
Much of it comes from New York City, where a small bag bought for $6-$10 can fetch
$8-$15 in Westchester.
“The price rises in heroin the farther north you travel,” Young said.
“We see people in Yonkers coming up Route 9 and serving the villages,” Young said. Or
the unit will be conducting surveillance on the Thruway and “we’ll spot a car traveling
southbound doing a little over the speed limit towards The Bronx,” Foltin said. “It’s only
a matter of time until we see the exact same car driving northbound traveling below the
speed limit being very cautious.”
“They usually make a stop in a rest area or gas station to shoot up in the car, ideally we
grab them before they hurt anybody,” Young said.
When they make a traffic stop, the officers “separate the people in the car and ask them
all the same things about where they came from or what they were doing,” Hennessey
said. They frequently get conflicting stories. ‘They think they’re so much smarter than
the police but they’re not.”
Take the arrest of Carolyn Claudio and Julio Vargas in April 2015, which led to the
seizure of more than 10,000 bags of heroin.
Officer McGee became suspicious when he spotted Claudio driving a green Honda
Accord well below the posted 55 mph speed limit in a northbound lane of Route I-87 and
making abrupt lane changes without signaling. A traffic stop was initiated on the I-87N
Tarrytown exit ramp.
When members of the task force approached the vehicle, Vargas and Claudio appeared to
be nervous, shaking their hands and breathing heavily. When they were asked to exit the
vehicle, part of a hypodermic syringe allegedly was sticking out from under the front
passenger seat and the cops noticed what appeared to be needle marks on Vargas’ arm.
Interviewed separately, Vargas explained they were driving their boss’s car from the
Bronx to the City of Rochester. Claudio stated she was picked up in the Bronx and was
traveling to Geneva. When asked why she appeared so nervous, she responded by saying
Vargas was in possession of heroin, admitting he has a drug problem and uses everyday.
Vargas admitted he had two bags of heroin and a few needles in a backpack in the car.

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While Vargas was retrieving the backpack from the car, McGee observed what appeared
to be a glassine envelope of heroin on the floor area in plain view. The officers searched
the backpack and found eight additional glassine envelopes and seven hypodermic
syringes. Vargas and Claudio were taken into custody for 7th degree Criminal Possession
of a Controlled Substance and the vehicle was impounded.
While inventorying the vehicle, members of the GDATF found wrinkles in the vinyl
covering of the door panels and suspected that the car was rigged with a hydraulic trap to
hide narcotics.
Confronted with the findings, Claudio waived her Miranda rights and told cops that
Vargas was a heroin user who was selling cocaine and crack. She also admitted that they
were driving up to Rochester for illegal purposes and to pick up a large sum of money.
In order to obtain a search warrant, New York State Police Trooper Meredith Govoni, a
trained narcotics/drugs K-9 handler and her dog, were contracted to assist in the
investigation. After Govoni’s dog

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sniffed drugs, Westchester County District Attorney Narcotic Bureau Chief Tom Luzio
applied for a search warrant.
After prying open the traps, officers found approximately 20 individually-packaged clear
plastic packaged bricks and a one clear plastic bag containing approximately 10,683
glassine envelopes containing heroin. They also found 50 grams of cocaine.
Both Vargas and Claudio were arrested and charged with First Degree criminal
possession of a controlled substance, Second Degree criminal possession of a controlled
substance and two counts of third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Both Vargas and Claudio were put in jail without bail.
Tarrytown Chief Scott Brown believes the task force has far exceeded the hopes and
expectations the chiefs had in 2002. “This is due in large part to the direction of Sgt.
Young,” Brown said.
With Young set to retire in July—he dreams of a low stress job in retail in South
Carolina. With meetings occurring frequently among Chiefs discussing the new chain of
command, nothing has been confirmed.
Longworth and Young happily look back on the success the task force has had over the
course of 14 years and hopes it continues to grow. But when asked how he feels about the
success of the task force, Longworth leans back in his chair, “Well,” he chuckles, “it was
a great idea.”

14 Years Later

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