Alleged drug kingpin nabbed after 2 yrs

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - After nearly two years of searching, State Police announced the arrest of a drug kingpin they say was responsible for supplying Buffalo with heroin.

Eury Rodriguez, 33, of Queens was charged in March of 2011 with drug trafficking, but he managed to avoid capture for nearly two years. Investigators say Rodriguez is being charged under the Drug Kingpin Law for moving more than seven kilos of heroin, worth an estimated of $3.5 million, from the Bronx to the Queen City.

RELATED | Read more about the bust in March of 2011, which authorities say was the biggest heroin bust in Buffalo's history

Rodriguez was taken into custody last Thursday. Investigators say he is the ring leader of the heroin distribution operation that was broken nearly two years ago after an 11-month investigation.

Lt. Martin McKee said, "It was only through extensive surveillance, interviews of his family members, interviews of his neighbors, that we were ultimately able to locate him."

Rodriguez will be arraigned on Tuesday in NYS Supreme Court on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, conspiracy in the second degree, and operating as a major trafficker.