By Stefan Spezio Over 60 officers from the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) met in the predawn hours last Thursday, June 28 before leading a drug sweep operation that yielded 17 arrests. Fifteen of those arrested were said to be involved with an Ellenville gang that refer to themselves as the "4 Block Bloods".

The arrests were the culmination of a four month "buy and bust" investigation that saw ten individuals indicted by an Ulster County grand jury on sales and possessions charges – both felonies. The sales were made to police working undercover.

Five search warrants were issued for locations within the Ellenville and Wawarsing area. During the searches and arrests, police seized more than five ounces of crack cocaine with a street value of $14,000 and about $5,000 in cash.

Particular attention has been paid to the fact that the gang, who refer to themselves as the "4 Block Bloods", has placed two music videos on the popular website, YouTube. The video, "4 Block/What It Is", features two of the individuals arrested in Thursday's raids. During the four-and-a-half minute rap video that features an assault rifle, graphic language and depictions of drug use, Tyjuan Price, 28, and Antonio Vega, 21, take turns rapping. Most of the people featured in the video are wearing red bandanas, which might seem to suggest their gang colors. As the lyrics state, "It's a Blood hood, with a few blues, with a couple n— hanging from a few crews." The video also features shots of local businesses that make appearances in the song's lyrics.

An URGENT press release revealed that Vega was charged with three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and six counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, all felonies.

Kingston Police Detective Lieutenant Timothy Matthews, head of URGENT, said that the task force had identified the arrested individuals as a major part of the organized trafficking of drugs in the southern Ulster region.

Charged with a series of drug related offenses in Thursday's sweep were Corey Steele, 31, of Ellenville; John Sims, 24, of Ellenville; Miguel DeJesus, 18, of Wawarsing; Nicholas Keener, 24; Rachel Irwin, 26, of Ellenville; Antonio Vega, 21, of Ellenville; Emmanuel Martinez, 25, of Wawarsing; Edwin Torres, 27, who is currently in jail in the Somerset County, NJ Jail; Rodney Shackelford, 48, of Wawarsing; Robert Paulsen, 47, of Kerhonkson; Tyjuan Price, 28, of Ellenville; Jesus LaSanta, Jr., 24, of Ellenville; and Carl Steele, 22, of Ellenville. Sarah Gilbert, 18, of Wawarsing was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, and Carmen Santiago, 45, of Wawarsing was charged with promoting prison contraband.

Two others, Althea Werner, 30, of Rosendale, and Jennifer Smith of Rosendale were arrested for purchasing cocaine from one of the suspects. Both were charged with misdemeanor drug possession.

Everyone arrested on Thursday was sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail, except for the following: Lasanta, who was jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail; Carl Steele, who was jailed in lieu of $30,000 bail; and Gilbert, Santiago and Price, who were released with appearance tickets.

The URGENT task force was created in March of this year to provide a comprehensive law enforcement group to deal with drug trafficking in the county. The unit is comprised of officers in police forces throughout several local municipalities. The emphasis on teamwork and sharing knowledge is said to be one of the major benefits of the task force.

"It's a lot easier when everybody is on the same page; everybody is working out of the same office. The intelligence sharing is much better. Everybody knows what's going on," he said. "If a guy, who generally works Ellenville, happens to hear a name that's up in Kingston, he knows it. That wasn't always the case in the past," said one URGENT official.

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