Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2001 The Boston Herald, Inc Contact: One Herald Square, Boston, MA 02106-2096 Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/ Author: J.M. Lawrence Marie Szaniszlo contributed to this report. DOPE SLAP: COPS BUST UP ALLEGED SOUTHIE HEROIN RING After two years of undercover work, federal authorities and Boston police yesterday busted up an alleged family heroin ring that used 23 men and women to deal dope from a base inside two South Boston housing project apartments. ``Drug activity drives crime in our neighborhoods,'' Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans said. ``This operation should put anyone involved in heroin distribution on notice that BPD, DEA, BHA and all of our other partners will continue to work together to put anyone dealing drugs in our city out of business.'' Agents raided the homes of Hector "Boogie'' Arias and his son at the Old Colony Housing Development just before dawn yesterday. Arias, 48, and his wife, Yolanda Herrera, 45, were charged in a federal indictment yesterday with selling the deadly drug via their network to Boston neighborhoods as well as Brockton and Quincy. Their apartment inside 7 Darius Court and the Patterson Way home of their 28-year-old son and his live-in girlfriend formed the nexus of a highly profitable drug trade, according to federal prosecutor Michael Pelgro. "It was a street-level organization,'' Pelgro said. Availability of cheap, highly pure heroin has been blamed for a growing legion of addicts and a culture of despair around South Boston public housing. The investigation and arrests were conducted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Boston police and Boston Housing Authority police. Out of the 23 people indicted, 16 were arrested yesterday. Neighbors of Arias said the apartment drew a steady stream of visitors. The couple often played loud music and had ``quite a lot of company,'' said one neighbor who requested her name be withheld. "Drugs are a big problem here,'' she said. "But most people are too afraid to say anything. I just mind my own business.'' The heroin ring's New York supplier - a 50-year-old Richmond Hills man - also was snared yesterday when agents arrested him and seized more than 400 grams of heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Accused drug kingpin Bernardo Nunez was arrested in New York City yesterday afternoon and charged with conspiracy. By afternoon, two rows of defendants filled the dock in Boston federal court magistrate Judge Lawrence P. Cohen's courtroom as tired law enforcement agents surveyed the day's catch. One defendant rousted from his bed in the early morning hours wore shorts, boots and no socks. The judge quizzed the men and women on their employment status and lengthy criminal records in state courts. Most of the defendants are not U.S. citizens. "All my cases have to do with drugs, but I'm not addicted to drugs myself,'' Awilda Osorio, 40, said in Spanish. "That's part of the problem,'' Cohen said dryly. Ranging from age 21 to 48, most defendants also told the judge they have children. One 26-year-old man from the Dominican Republic explained that he and his wife have two children ``and my girlfriend's pregnant.'' A courtroom clerk brought out cups of water and a box of tissues for defendants who sniffled and sneezed through the hearing. The first indictment in the case charges 19 defendants with conspiring to sell heroin from January 1999 through October 2000. A second indictment charges four others with conspiracy from October 1999 through August 2000. Arias, Herrera and his girlfriend, Linna Gonzalez, 32, of South Boston face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy. Other alleged heroin dealers in the ring face a maximum of 20 years and fines. Marie Szaniszlo contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens