Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports that a large quantity of heroin has been seized and two men from Brewster have been arrested following a joint investigation by county and federal law enforcement into drug trafficking in the area.
Mr. Francisco R. Osorio Sagastume, aged 18, of 20 Eastview Avenue in Brewster, and Mr. Eduardo Paiz-Ortega, aged 21, of 26 Oak Street in the Village, were arrested on the evening of Friday, December 8th.
Mr. Sagastume was taken into custody on Friday evening after he was pulled over by sheriff’s deputies and investigators as he was driving a vehicle in the Village. Deputy Sheriff Christopher Irwin and his K-9 partner Kato assisted in searching the vehicle and reportedly found about one kilo of heroin within it.
Mr. Paiz-Ortega was arrested later on Friday evening, when authorities armed with a search warrant went to an apartment that he occupied in Brewster and took him into custody there. A search of that apartment reportedly yielded approximately another kilo of heroin.
Senior Investigator Thomas Corless, who heads the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit, credited a caller’s tip to the Sheriff’s Office Drug Hotline (845-225-DRUG) for initiating the investigation in the case. As the investigation progressed, it widened to involve the joint efforts of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of New York.
The defendants were arrested on state charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, a class A-I felony that could be punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment upon conviction. The investigation is continuing and additional charges are expected to be filed in the case.
Photo credit: Putnam Sheriff's Department
Mugshot photographs of Messrs. Sagastume and Paiz-Ortega
Photograph of Deputy Irwin and K-9 Kato with the heroin seized in the case.