BUFFALO – The largest drug ring bust in the city of Dunkirk’s history has netted well over $200,000 worth of cocaine, a fully automatic assault rifle and six local arrests.

A press conference took place Thursday at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo to provide details on federal grand jury indictments for two separate narcotics cases: one regarding heroin trafficking in Buffalo and the other being the discovery of the cocaine distribution operation in Dunkirk.

U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York was flanked at the press conference by a number of officials across Western New York, including Chautauqua County District Attorney David Foley, Sheriff Joseph Gerace, Lt. David Bentley of the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force, Dunkirk Police Chief David Ortolano and Dunkirk Mayor Anthony J. Dolce.

“These narcotics investigations affected all of Western New York and involved some of the most deadly and dangerous substances that are currently out on the streets of Western New York,” Hochul said. “Cocaine, perhaps not as lethal (as heroin) in moderate doses, nevertheless has had very well-documented stories regarding the destruction of the community, the destruction of relationships within families and, of course, the long-term health of those who use this particular narcotics substance. We’re simply not going to allow narcotics traffickers to hurt people or communities any longer.”

“I believe this may represent one of the largest seizures that we’ve had in the Dunkirk area,” he pointed out.

The local narcotics raids took place last week, primarily at 34 N. Jerboa St. and 1165 Central Ave.

According to a press release, David Jesus Pagan, 39, Rafael Burgos Jr., 40, Samuel Hernandez III, 34, Javier Pagan Jr., 31, Alvin Torres Jr., 30, and Angel Pierluissi, 28, all of Dunkirk, were named in the indictment. Two of the six have been in custody for about a week now. All six defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

David Jesus Pagan, of the North Jerboa Street address, is also charged with maintaining a premises for manufacturing and distribution of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison, a maximum of life and a $10 million fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Duszkiewicz, who is handling the Dunkirk case, stated that between 2013 and June 10, 2015, law enforcement officers had been investigating a drug-trafficking organization allegedly led by defendants David Jesus Pagan and Burgos, of the Central Avenue address.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined David Jesus Pagan and Burgos allegedly distributed multiple kilograms of cocaine to mid-level dealers throughout the Dunkirk area after reprocessing it, officials stated.

Search warrants were executed at six properties on June 10, resulting in the recovery of more than 7 kilograms of wholesale cocaine and approximately $175,000 in cash, as well as an AR-15 assault rifle with a 30-round magazine.

Foley noted to be able to take down a level higher than just streets sales is “very significant.”

“I’m very pleased with the outcome, with a lot of hard work put in by a lot of people,” Ortolano stated. “An operation like this sends that message out to these drug dealers that it’s a priority for us to eradicate this unacceptable behavior in our community. I know we’ve got some more things coming down the road on this investigation, and I want our citizens to know that I want them to continue giving us information, because without that, we cannot do our job and keep the community safe.”

Ortolano added this seizure is the largest Dunkirk has ever seen, and quite possibly the largest in the entire county.

“From beginning to end, in my 37 years of service, I’ve never seen anything as tremendous as this,” Gerace remarked. “There will be an impact, at least for the time being.”

To understand the sheer quantity of 7 kilograms of cocaine, Hochul explained a typical usage dose is estimated at one-tenth of a gram. As a result of that estimate, 7 kilograms equates to 70,000 dosage units when sold on the streets as is.

“Wholesale quantities of cocaine are frequently increased in size … (after reprocessing) they are at least doubled, perhaps triple that, by the time the 7 kilograms would ultimately reach the retail street level of drug,” Hochul added.

The indictments are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Office; the New York State Police Community Enforcement Narcotics Team Western Region, under the direction of Lt. Kevin Reyes; the Dunkirk Police Department; the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office; the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, and the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office.

Four people were arrested in the Buffalo heroin trafficking operation.