4 Montauk Residents Nabbed in Alleged Cocaine Ring

Four people were arrested for allegedly buying large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl from the Dominican Republic and selling it at bars in their hometown of Montauk, Suffolk County prosecutors said.

Angel Garces-Diaz, Anuedy Garces-Medrano, Yadaris Baez-Rivera and Everado Hernandez were each charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. Garces-Diaz, who faces the most counts, was also charged with possession. 

“We were able to disrupt the drug trade in Montauk by arresting these four individuals,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

Undercover investigators allegedly purchased narcotics from the suspects, authorities said. Upon executing a search warrant Wednesday on the suspects’ homes, vehicles and a storage facility, investigators found more than $35,000 in cash, large quantities of cocaine, drug distribution paraphernalia, a 9mm handgun and enough fentanyl to kill more than 1,000 people, prosecutors said. 

The investigation began in the summer of 2020, when the Department of Homeland Security intercepted a parcel of cocaine bound for Montauk from the Dominican Republic, authorities said. But the package bore a fake name and misleading address. When a controlled delivery to the intended recipient proved unsuccessful, the investigation reached a dead end until March 2022, when the East End Drug Task Force picked up the case in partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Strike Force Team, according to investigators.

Suffolk Judge Steven Tekulsky ordered Garces Diaz and Garces-Medrano held Thursday without bail. They are due back in court next Wednesday, October 12. Baez-Rivera and Hernandez were each released without bail. They are due back in court on Thursday, October 27.

Attorneys for the suspects could not immediately be reached for comment.