ANSONIA – A 56-year-old Ansonia resident was one of 14 people arrested last month on federal drug charges in connection to an investigation into the distribution of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and oxycontin in the region.
An affidavit from investigators allege some of the suspects charged have ties to a drug cartel and narcotic traffickers in Mexico.
Ansonia resident Garry Gebeau is not one of the suspects with alleged cartel connections – but, according to court documents, his voice was captured in a series of recorded calls in 2022 ordering heroin and fentanyl from Jose Duprey, 51, alleged to be a higher up in the organization that was just taken down.
The multi-jurisdictional investigation included numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, which includes local police officers.
Two people were at the top of the investigation’s food chain, according to court documents: Duprey and Javier Gonzalez, 51, both of Waterbury.
The two men are not accused of working together to run a single enterprise, according to court documents, but law enforcement said sources told them they know each other and have worked in the drug trade previously.
Law enforcement allege Gonzalez, his brother Francisco, and Francisco’s girlfriend, Vanessa Battice, smuggled about $26,000 in cash into Mexico to pay a narcotics supplier.
Police also allege that Duprey got cocaine, heroin, and possibly fentanyl from a supplier in Mexico, and that sources told cops Duprey owed a debt to a Mexican drug cartel of more than $1 million.
An affidavit in the federal court filings allege that a vehicle with drugs hidden inside it would drive from Mexico to Waterbury, where Duprey and associates would take it apart to retrieve the narcotics.
Some of those narcotics went to a series of drug dealers, including Gebeau, the Ansonia resident, according to police.
Gebeau purchased drugs to sell to others, according to investigators. In addition to a series of wiretap conversations, police allege they have video surveillance of Gebeau at Duprey’s place of employment, a car rental service in Waterbury, where police believe Gebeau picked up drugs.
The investigation included wiretaps and surveillance that went on for months.
Court documents state that on at least two occasions Gebeau told Duprey he thought they were being watched by undercover cops in unmarked vehicles. An affidavit states Gebeau was correct on at least one of the occasions, when he spotted an unmarked vehicle parked next to an Arby’s in Waterbury. His recorded conversation describing the vehicle was one of many facts police included in an arrest warrant to establish probable cause to take him into custody.
Gebeau’s residence on Chester Street was one of 11 locations raided by police, the climax of an investigation that goes back to 2019. He was arrested May 25. The court documents do not specify where Gebeau allegedly sold drugs.
Those raids in late May yielded 18 kilos of drugs, $290,000 in cash, and $400,000 in jewelry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Gebeau was charged with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, narcotics. That is a felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Duprey was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin, cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl.
Javier Gonzalez was charged with smuggling cash out of the U.S., possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin, cocaine, cocaine base, fentanyl, and oxycodone.
