NEW YORK.- Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. confirmed the arrest and indictments against a ring of narcotics traffickers, mostly Dominicans, which has brought unrest to the Manhattan Upper sector of Inwood, and whose main leaders were arrested in raids after en eight month investigation.

Vance said among those charged figure Anthony de Leon (El Flaco and Hormiga), Carlos Raposo (El Pesado), Freddy Jiménez, Juan Fajardo (Kiko), Franco Camilo (El Capo), José Camilo and Frank Camilo (El Shorty).

The alleged narcotics traffickers, of ages 22 to 64, face 19 counts of conspiracy in second degree to distribute ecstasy, cocaine and marijuana in that neighborhood, where a sixth suspect, as yet unidentified, was also arrested.

In a statement, the Office of the DA said the investigation against the ring and into drug trafficking on a large scale in Inwood began in the autumn of 2010, on denunciations and community concerns.

The streets Ellwood, Nagle, Sherman and 196th Street, among others, were the main scenes of the alleged Dominican narcotics traffickers, accused of selling more than half a kilo of cocaine, almost 400 doses of BZP, 40 doses of MDMA, in addition to a small quantity of marijuana to undercover detectives, between October and June 2011.

Vance, accompanied by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, praised the arrests, affirming that the interagency collaboration led to the quick capture of the ringleaders, who face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. “This Office is committed to dismantling the underground economies that feed violence and crime.”