3 Arrested, $4M In Suspected Narcotics Seized In Queens Bust

OZONE PARK, QUEENS — Authorities have arrested three people and seized $4 million in suspected fentanyl, cocaine and heroin in a massive drug-trafficking bust in Queens, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor announced Friday.

The enterprise's suspected ringleader, Queens resident Terry Barbour, was arrested Thursday night on criminal drug and weapons charges, authorities said.

Barbour's arrest on the streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn, came three weeks after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force raided what they said was his drug-packaging mill in an Ozone Park apartment.

There, in an apartment on 80th Street, investigators last month seized over three pounds of suspected fentanyl, four presses designed for compacting kilograms of drugs and thousands of empty glassine envelopes.

Brooklyn resident Perry Funchess was arrested driving off from the apartment with two duffel bags that contained a loaded AK-47 rifle and loaded .380 caliber pistol and were stuffed with suspected fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.

A third associate, 50-year-old Jamal Johnson of Brooklyn, was arrested alongside Barbour on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's lab test results for the seized substances are still pending.

“The 44 pounds of lethal fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, and two guns we took off the streets in this investigation could have claimed many lives,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said. “The CDC reports overdose deaths are up by at least 10% in New York City as of May 2020, and surging across the nation. Fentanyl is a major factor, tragically claiming the lives of those with struggling with substance use in isolation during the pandemic, when supportive services are less available. Investigations targeting large-scale fentanyl traffickers have never been more crucial.”