Cocaine and cannabis seized in California as part of the operation

ALBANY - Thirteen people have been charged in connection with what authorities called a major New York City drug trafficking network with ties to Schenectady, Fulton and Montgomery counties, officials said.

Of those charged in the ring, two are from Schenectady and one from Amsterdam, officials said.

The ring also included alleged drug sales in Fulton County and an alleged stash house in Niskayuna, officials said.

In all, agents seized nearly 500 kilos of cocaine in the 18-month-long operation.

Authorities made the arrests June 12, conducting searches at 24 locations in New York and New Jersey, officials said.

The drug ring shipped rugs from California to New York City and then to Upstate New York, officials said.

The June 12 searches resulted in the seizure of more than 250 kilograms of cocaine, along with fentanyl pills, other drugs and paraphernalia, officials said. They also seized a firearm and more than $1 in cash, officials said.

Those seizures followed the lengthy investigation, where investigators seized more than 240 kilograms of cocaine, 185 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 700 pounds of cannabis.

“Using an all-hands-on-deck approach, we have smashed a sophisticated, New York City-based drug trafficking organization that was pumping poison into our Upstate New York communities," U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said in a statement. "This case demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to taking back our communities from the criminal organizations that have proliferated in recent years thanks to weak state laws and even weaker state legislators from New York City.”

Arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances:

Chaquill Foster is accused in the indictment of working with Abdelhak, described as a leader, to distribute cocaine and cannabis in New York City and in the Capital Region.

Authorities say Chaquill Foster was associated with the Niskayuna stash house, an apartment police raided in December 2023.

The apartment was rented with a stolen identity. The apartment had no furniture, but had at least four clear vacuum-sealed plastic bags containing about 0.93 grams of cocaine and other items, the indictment reads.

Jocelyn Foster is accused of obtaining cocaine from the organization and then selling it in and around Johnstown and Gloversville, according to the indictment.

Between April 2024 and January 2025, authorities conducted six controlled cocaine purchases from Jocelyn Foster in Johnstown and Gloversville, the indictment reads.

Butler is not named in the main indictment, but is named in a separate complaint, accused of possessing two bricks of cocaine and $1,000 cash at an apartment in Albany June 12, that complaint reads.

The New York State Police, the DEA’s Capital District Drug Enforcement Task Force, and the FBI’s Capital District Safe Streets Gang Task Force are investigating this case, with assistance from Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the sheriff’s offices in Fulton and Montgomery Counties, and the police departments in Colonie, Elmira, Gloversville, Johnstown, Niskayuna, Schenectady, and Amsterdam.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cyrus P.W. Rieck, Katherine Kopita and Nicholas Walter are prosecuting the case.

Canajoharie senior Tyler Lozier is pictured on June 17.

Between volunteering at the church his dad is a pastor at and leading the Canajoharie soccer team, Tyler Lozier is graduating from Canajoharie High School, having left his mark on........

© The Leader Herald