Spota Announces 23 Arrests in East End Drug Bust

While 17 alleged gang members and drug dealers, including Carlton Walker, 22 of Westhampton, were being arraigned at Suffolk County Criminal Court on Thursday, two floors above them, Suffolk County District Attorney Thoms Spota held a press conference announcing their arrests and the county's crackdown of a drug ring which allegedly distributed half a kilo of crack cocaine a week in Eastern Suffolk.

Calling the narcotics trade the "life blood" of gangs, Spota announced that among 23 arrests in total, the East End Drug Task Force had tackled five admitted members of the Bloods street gang from Riverhead and Southampton in a three-month investigation that started in August of 2010.

Two individuals arrested by the task force included the leaders of two factions of the Bloods, which go by the names of the Doctors Patch Flame and Trey-9. John Gayles, who was on parole for felony drug sales, led the Doctors Path Flame while Carnell Walker, an ex-felon also busted for drug sales in the past, led Trey-9 out of Flanders. According to Spota, the two both cooked $20,000 worth of crack out of their homes on a weekly basis.

Downstairs, Suffolk County Judge Martin Efman held both on $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 bond.

"The lifeblood of street gangs is the narcotics trade - especially cocaine," Spota said. "The profits generated from sales finance their other illegal activities - the purchase of illegal guns for example. They enforce their street operations with these guns."

In the 10 search warrants executed by the task force, three handguns were found, one of which was tied to a shooting in the Shirley/Mastic area. Counterfeit cash was also a large part of the operation, allegedly coming from Mack Butler in Patchogue to Flanders, and used at local businesses. In late January, police announced that to purchase a vacuum at Wal-Mart.

Among those arraigned on Monday, prosecutors said one had already given a "detailed confession of the operation of the counterfeit enterprise."

The East End Drug Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement unit funded by the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.  The task force includes detectives, police officers, and law enforcement personnel from the New York State Police, New York State Parole the Suffolk County Police Department, District Attorney Detective-Investigators, East Hampton Town Police Department, East Hampton Village Police Department, Shelter Island Police Department, Southold Police Department, Riverhead Police Department, Suffolk County Sheriff's Office, and the Suffolk County Department of Probation.