Crime & Safety

Police Bust Upscale Drug Ring

Glen Cove detectives say Locust Valley man and others ran marijuana operation in wealthy section of Roslyn.

A Locust Valley man and several others were recently put behind bars after Glen Cove police say they ran a cocaine and marijuana ring along the Gold Coast area. 

News of the drug bust came after city and Nassau County police and the county's District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday that they teamed up for a joint narcotics investigation. 

According to city detectives, James Blatchly, of  251 Oyster Bay Road, ran a mini-drug factory out of the rear area of his apartment, where he would process cocaine into crack and then sell the drugs to other dealers. During a search of his apartment on April 24, police also discovered a marijuana operation. Officers later confiscated 100 marijuana plants, about seven ounces of cocaine and drug paraphernalia from the apartment.  

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After further investigation, police found that Blatchly was running a larger pot ring out of a home in the Flower Hill section of Roslyn. Police said the entire basement of the house, which is a part of a section with million dollar homes, was converted into an elaborate laboratory where sun lamps, ventilation systems, incubators and watering systems, among other things, were used to grow cannabis plants. The second level of the home, police said, was used as an area to dry and package the plants for sale. Officers confiscated 300 plants from the home. 

Blatchly was charged with eight felonies including a class A drug possession charge. He was arraigned at the First District Court in Hempstead and was held on $300,000 bail.

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Also arrested in connection with the drug ring are brothers Greg and Jeff Ergen, of Bayville, and Locust Valley residents Robert Nelson, Thomas McCarthy and Salvatore Marino. The drug-related charges against these men have not been announced. 


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