Auburn, N.Y. — Drug busts across Central New York including Auburn, Cortland and Syracuse resulted in 16 people being arrested Monday.
Police seized over $77,000 worth of fentanyl pills, two kilos of cocaine and a pound of meth, police said. Drugs and guns were also seized in California.
The 16 arrested are from Auburn, Camillus, Cortland, Geneva, Oswego, Sherrill and Syracuse,
The drug bust was the largest in Cayuga County in a decade, police said.
The investigation started in April 2021, and focused on two people Auburn police said are gang leaders: Nicholas Neville and Merritt Fletcher IV.
Police determined the two men were getting drugs from New York City, Rochester and California, according to a news release from the Auburn Police Department.
On Jan. 13, police executed search warrants in multiple places including Auburn and the city of Cortland, police said. Police recovered 2.6 kilos of cocaine, 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine, around 7,000 fentanyl pills, two defaced guns, $20,000 in cash and $15,000 in jewelry, they said.
On April 6, police said they recovered 70,000 fentanyl pills in a storage locker in Syracuse.
On the same day, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers in Bakersfield, California conducted a raid in connection to the Central New York drug investigation. Officers seized over 100,000 fentanyl pills, 133 grams of fentanyl, 30 grams of cocaine and 17 firearms, police said.
On Monday, people were arrested and indicted in connection to the raids, police said.
The people arrested are:
- Merritt F. Fletcher, 31, of Auburn: third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug
- Nicholas M. Neville, 32, of Auburn: third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug
- Caitlyn E. Jacobs, 31, of Auburn: criminal possession of a firearm and first-degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug
- Calvin D. Wilson, 38, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Rondell T. Smith, 40, , of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Taquann R. Jones, 34, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Jennifer A. Richardson, 35, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Chalise A. Bullock, 23, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy and first-degree criminal possession of a narcotic drug
- Robert N. O’Hara III, 46, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Kyle T. Lerch, 34, of Sherrill: second-degree conspiracy
- Jacalynn A. Jacobs, 23, of Camillus: second-degree conspiracy
- Brittani N. Dias, 29, of Syracuse: second-degree conspiracy
- Michael J. Wiltsie, 61, of Oswego: second-degree conspiracy
- Dytalion P. Dennis, 26, of Auburn: second-degree conspiracy
- Michael L. Jenkins, 25, of Geneva: second-degree conspiracy
- Donald J. Sampson, 20, of Cortland: second-degree conspiracy
Around 77,000 fentanyl pills were found in a storage locker in Syracuse, police said. Ten people were indicted Monday, August 29, 2022. (Courtesy Auburn Police)
Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.