Prosecutors: Mistreated Dogs Rescued From Bronx Heroin Stash House
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The arraignment of a woman accused of participating in a major heroin-packaging operation in the Bronx tugged at the heart strings of courtroom observers Monday -- not with sympathy for the defendant, but for the terrible condition of three dogs rescued from what authorities described as a heroin stash house.
There were two shih tzu puppies and one adult dog seized from Tiffany Kincanno's apartment in the University Heights section of the Bronx, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported. They had been starved and tortured, prosecutors said. They're now recovering in the hands of the ASPCA.
Detectives also seized heroin and cocaine from the bedroom of a child under 2 years old, authorities said.
Judge Neil Ross said that he's as concerned as anyone about such serious animal abuse, but he said there are also serious allegations about endangering the welfare of a child.
The child was also taken from the mother, Cornell reported.
Kincanno, 27, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminally using drug paraphernalia and unlawfully dealing with a child.
According to police, neighbors complained about drug trafficking and violence around Grand Avenue and East 184th Street. After a three-month investigation, cops last month made 15 arrests based on 10 sales of heroin to undercover officers, authorities said.
The reputed ringleader was Carlos Rivera, who was nicknamed "El Monstruo," Spanish for "The Monster."
The group is charged with selling 3,500 individual glassine envelopes of heroin branded "Scarface" to the cops.
According to authorities, a search of two apartments used by the group turned up a full-scale heroin-processing operation, other drugs, $12,000 in cash and two young children.