United States Drug Enforcement Administration

QUEENS, N.Y. –   Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division announced that Dennis Carrol was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned today on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance. After U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents stopped Carrol’s car in Hollis on November 28, they found two kilos of fentanyl in the trunk. Carrol is accused of transporting the narcotics from Suffolk County to Queens for the purpose of selling the drugs for profit.

District Attorney Katz said: “Overdose fatalities are up more than 50 percent in Queens this year and three of every four of those deaths are attributed to fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives. That is why this case is important and why my office will continue to work relentlessly to get this poison and its merchants off of our streets. I am proud of the work of my Major Economic Crimes team in this case. And I would like to thank our partners at the DEA for their help, as well as their commitment to keeping our communities safe.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division, Frank Tarentino, said: “Fentanyl is the most dangerous illicit drug on the street today and it presents the most serious threat to public health and safety in the United States. In 2021, 107,622 Americans died from drug poisonings and over 66 percent are directly related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Seizures like this demonstrate DEA’s dedication and commitment to working with our law enforcement colleagues to bring to justice those who continue to flood our city streets with poison. I applaud the work of DEA New York Division Group D-41, with assistance provided by the NY/NJ Port Authority Police Department, the New York Strike Force Financial Investigation Team, along with our strong partnership with the Queens District Attorney’s Office.”

Carrol, 31, of Evergreen Road in Flanders, Long Island, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Judge Michael Aloise on a three-count indictment charging him with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Judge Aloise ordered Carrol to return to court on January 10, 2023. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The District Attorney’s Major Narcotics Unit of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, in conjunction with the DEA’s New York Division, conducted an investigation utilizing court-authorized surveillance of the defendant’s activities during the month of November.

Based on the intelligence gathered, DEA agents conducted a car stop at 188th Street in Hollis as Carrol was driving along Hillside Avenue on November 28 at approximately 3:30 p.m. A search of the vehicle turned up two plastic bags containing roughly 2 kilograms of fentanyl, with a street value of $80,000, enough to produce approximately 20,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills. A recent bulletin from the DEA indicated that in 2022, six out of ten counterfeit pills contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.

District Attorney Katz said there have been 315 suspected fatal overdose cases across Queens County so far in 2022, an estimated 50% increase from the same time last year. An overwhelming majority of these deaths, approximately 76.3%, have been attributed to fentanyl.

Assistant District Attorney Kieran Linehan, Supervisor, Major Narcotics in the District Attorney’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Mary Lowenburg, Bureau Chief, Assistant District Attorney Catherine Kane, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Scharf, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Investigations Gerard Brave.