GOSHEN – A total of 25 people, including seven with prior felony convictions, have been arrested by law enforcement in Orange County in their latest drug sweep dubbed “Operation County Spring Cleaning.”
Five were arrested in Port Jervis, six in Middletown, three in the City of Newburgh, two in New Windsor, five in the Town of Wallkill, three in the Village of Monroe and one in the Village of Walden. Twenty-eight percent of those arrested in this latest takedown are repeat offenders, said District Attorney David Hoovler.
“We just have to keep doing this because of the way the drugs affect everything we are looking at,” he said.
The arrests in this operation dealt with heroin and cocaine possession or sales.
One startling revelation from Hoovler was that more and more criminals opt not to participate in rehab as an alternative to prison.
“They don’t want to deal with probation,” the DA noted. “They don’t want to deal with diversion court. They don’t want to deal with treatment court. They would rather go to jail for two years than go through the process, and we are starting to see more and more of that.”
Hoovler said in recent months, the police are receiving more tips from residents of the communities, in particular the City of Port Jervis, where people will report suspicious activity and even provide license plate numbers.
One suspect, Anthony Maillet, 34, of Port Jervis, was arrested after a community tip. He was previously arrested on drug charges as part of “Operation Frostbite” in February.
