Colon
Ortiz
MIDDLETOWN – Police have concluded a one-year investigation into
the sales and trafficking of drugs in the Middletown area with the arrests
of two men and the seizure of a large quantity of drugs.
City police along with the State Police and agents from the FBI Hudson
Valley Safe Streets Task Force executed two no-knock search warrants on
Friday, June 1 at 76 Beattie Avenue and 13 Ogden Street and arrested Luis
Ortiz, 57, also known as “Colla,” of the Town of Wawayanda,
a well-known operative in a narcotics distribution run that has been distributing
heroin in the Middletown area for over a year, and Jose Colon, 43, of
Middletown, an Ortiz associate.
Investigators seized 4,131 bags of heroin with a street value of over
$40,000, and $1,614 in cash. Two motor vehicles were also seized for possible
forfeiture – a Jaguar X-type and a Dodge Charger.
Heroin, with a street value of over $40,000 seized, along with cash
The bags of heroin wee marked “The Punisher” and “Down
Low,” each of which were well-known in the area, police said.
Ortiz was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled
substance and Colon, was charged with one count of drug possession, all
as felonies.
Police said the arrests and seizure of the drugs will significantly impact
the distribution of heroin in and around the Middletown community for
the foreseeable future.
