Nine arrested as DEA and Nassau police raid Long Island marijuana network
On 7 October 2003 DEA and Nassau County detectives executed 18 search warrants across Nassau and Suffolk, arresting nine people and seizing about 175 pounds of marijuana, $700,000 in cash, five vehicles and 17 handguns from a distribution ring centred on Oyster Bay.
🇺🇸 Nassau and Suffolk counties, New York · New York, United States
On 7 October 2003 agents from the DEA’s Long Island district office and Nassau County police
detectives executed 18 search warrants in Nassau and Suffolk counties.[1]They arrested nine people
and seized about 175 pounds of marijuana, roughly $700,000 in proceeds or substituted proceeds, five
motor vehicles and 17 handguns, including a pen gun, a shotgun and a rifle.[1]
The Oyster Bay ring
The investigation targeted a network that imported and sold large quantities of marijuana.[1]Task
force officers learned that Lester Huffer, a former Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce president who sold
signs from Pine Hollow Road and played Santa at malls, was supplying the trade from his home and
store.[1][2]Low-grade Mexican marijuana was nicknamed “Bob”; higher-grade hydroponic cannabis sold
wholesale for about $3,200 to $3,500 a pound under the name “Phil”.[1][2]
Retired pharmacist John J. Donovan, arrested with almost 100 pounds of marijuana and more than
$350,000 in cash, had driven loads coast to coast in a minivan for about two years, the DEA said.[1]Six defendants faced Nassau County marijuana sale or possession charges punishable by up to 15
years; three faced conspiracy counts.[1]Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon said the operation
also kept prior felony offenders and a large cache of weapons off the streets.[1][2]
Photos and video
DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giovino at the press briefing on the Nassau County arrests.Photo details
The release values the cash as proceeds or substituted proceeds but does not say how much was linked to each defendant.
Nassau County charged six people under state law and three for conspiracy; federal outcomes for the same arrests are not in the opened sources.
The New York Post said arrests began in September and finished late in the month, while the DEA release describes the 7 October warrant day as the dismantling; the exact span of custody moves is not spelled out.
CHP's warrant service team searched a home in the 400 block of Bear Canyon Road northwest of Garberville on 9 November 2026 as part of a multi-agency narcotics investigation involving the DEA, HSI and FBI. The CHP said it did not lead the probe and would not confirm the target, the material officers shovelled, or any arrests.
North Port police arrested Nicholas Eddy, 29, and Jessica Trach, 28, after their Special Investigations Unit searched a home on Narcissus Terrace and found marijuana packaged for sale along with cocaine, suspected LSD, steroids and pills. Both were accused of drug possession for sale, running a drug house and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Lexington town police and state and federal partners searched five vape and hemp shops on 5 November 2026 in an undercover investigation into sales of illicit narcotics and drug paraphernalia. A shop owner says officers emptied cases, seized her phone and more than $3,300 in cash, and she plans to sue; no arrests were reported.
Four agencies served simultaneous search warrants at two Quincy addresses on 5 November 2026 in a drug-trafficking investigation, and police announced probable cause to arrest two men, one of them on a cannabis sale allegation. No drug quantities were disclosed and police did not confirm either man was in custody.
