The last member of a fentanyl trafficking ring that packaged drugs out of a Borough Park apartment has been sentenced, closing the book on a case that saw investigators seize guns, cash and thousands of narcotics-filled envelopes from a single Brooklyn address. Victor Rosario Arias, 42, received 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision, the final sentence handed down in a six-person case that prosecutors say ran a sophisticated packaging operation from an apartment at 923 64th Street.
Arias’ sentencing came one day after two Staten Island men, Steven Fabian Tineo, 29, and Jonathan Ramos, 43, of the Bronx, were also sentenced in the case, according to silive.com. Tineo received a nine-year prison sentence and five years of post-release supervision, while Ramos was sentenced to 13 years in prison along with the same five-year supervision term. All three were convicted July 22 following a seven-week trial before state Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan, as reported by News12 New York in its Brooklyn coverage of the final sentencings.
What Investigators Found Inside the Borough Park Apartment
The case traces back to May 9, 2024, when authorities executed a search warrant at the Borough Park apartment that prosecutors said served as the organization's fentanyl packaging mill. According to News12 New York, investigators seized about eight kilograms of narcotics, two firearms, thousands of fentanyl-laced glassine envelopes, drug-packaging equipment, seven bottles of xylazine and more than $28,000 in cash. The same report notes that prosecutors said the recovery amounted to approximately eight kilograms of narcotics in total.
News12 New York also reported that Arias fled through a kitchen window during the raid and was arrested weeks later in Queens, where authorities recovered more than a kilogram of fentanyl and additional drug-packaging equipment from a vehicle linked to the ring. Separately, silive.com's account of the raid described investigators finding thousands of glassine envelopes containing mixtures of fentanyl, heroin and other substances, along with a loaded firearm, a second loaded gun hidden in a concealed compartment, a kilo pressing machine and approximately seven bottles of xylazine.
A Judge's Warning on the Fentanyl Trade's Toll
During sentencing, Judge Merchan called Arias a danger to society and noted the deadly toll of the fentanyl trade, according to News12 New York. The organization's other members had already been resolved through plea deals earlier in the case. Angel Cruz Tineo, 35, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision.
Yeiby Ruffen Jacquez, 36, also of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to a drug charge and received five years of probation, while Brayam Aguasviv Perez, of Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, said that Arias' sentence marked the conclusion of criminal proceedings against six members of the organization, according to the same News12 New York report. Per silive.com's separate account, Brennan's office likewise confirmed that Arias' sentence marked the conclusion of criminal proceedings against six members of the organization.
A Justice Department release on a related federal case described records recovered from a fentanyl mill indicating that defendants had conspired for at least a year to sell millions of dollars' worth of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That release also stated that all six defendants in that case were present in the United States without legal status, and that one had previously been removed from the country.
Not an Isolated Case in New York City
The Borough Park case is not the only apartment-based fentanyl packaging operation New York authorities have dismantled recently. In a separate case announced in January, six men were arrested and charged in connection with a fentanyl packaging mill operating inside an apartment building at 1505 Grand Concourse in the Bronx, according to a press release from the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office posted on snpnyc.org.
That release said more than six kilograms of narcotics were seized in total, including over six kilograms of fentanyl carrying an estimated street value of more than $1 million. Investigators have not publicly tied the two cases together, and the available evidence does not establish a broader pattern beyond these two reported operations.
