For months, a steady stream of postal packages was allegedly delivering fentanyl into Rockland County. It ended, prosecutors say, with a bust in West Haverstraw and more than a pound of the powerful synthetic opioid off the street.
Investigators in West Haverstraw seized roughly 1.2 pounds of powdered fentanyl, according to prosecutors, including a single package that weighed 512.2 grams. The suspect, identified by prosecutors as 35-year-old Yamil Caraballo, was taken into custody on March 5.
The arrest was announced Tuesday by Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II, as reported by Daily Voice. That report states the arrest followed an investigation by U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Narcotics Task Force into fentanyl shipments arriving through the U.S. Mail over a period of months.
In a press release via the Rockland County District Attorney's Office, officials said the multiagency probe also involved Homeland Security Investigations along with the Suffern, Ramapo and Haverstraw police departments. The DA's office released photos of one of the seized packages and outlined what it described as a months-long investigation leading up to the March 5 arrest.
Photographs released by prosecutors show a single package weighing 512.2 grams, and prosecutors said the total seizure amounted to about 1.2 pounds. Daily Voice published those images with credit to the DA's office.
Charges and penalties
Caraballo was charged in Rockland County Court with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, an A-1 felony under New York law that carries a potential prison sentence of 8 to 20 years, according to prosecutors in the DA's release. The case is currently pending in Rockland County Court, and prosecutors say the investigation remains active.
Why this matters
Federal officials have repeatedly warned that tiny quantities of fentanyl can be deadly. The DEA says as little as two milligrams can be fatal. Using the DA's reported seizure of roughly 1.2 pounds as a benchmark, that amount converts to roughly 270,000 potential two milligram doses, a rough estimate meant to illustrate the scale of what investigators say was intercepted.
Prosecutors did not immediately release details about bail or whether others might also face charges. The matter remains under investigation in Rockland County Court.
