Francisco Dandraia - Frank Salinas

January 18, 2000

SOUTHEAST QUEENS NARCOTICS INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN CLOSURE OF SUFFOLK MARIJUANA FACTORY: $250,000 WORTH OF HIGH QUALITY MARIJUANA SEIZED.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown joined today with Suffolk County District Attorney James M. Catterson, Jr. and officials of the Suffolk County Police Department's Narcotics Section and the New York City Police Department Southeast Queens Narcotics Initiative in announcing the arrest of two Suffolk County residents who were allegedly conducting a hydroponic marijuana growing operation in Holbrook.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Francisco Dandraia, 46, of 181 Milldam Road, Centerport and Frank Salinas, 33, of 54 East Deer Park Road, Dix Hills. They were charged with Criminal Possession of Marijuana 1^st Degree, a class "C" Felony and face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

District Attorney Brown said, "The significant seizure of marijuana clearly depicts the level of cooperation among law enforcement agencies that exists today. When we in Queens - - as a result of one of our joint investigations with the Narcotics Division of the New York City Police Department - - learned that marijuana was being grown out in Holbrook, we immediately contacted our counterparts in Suffolk. As a result, the Suffolk Police Department dispatched a chopper that identified the warehouses in which it was believed that the marijuana was being grown through the enormous amount of heat being thrown off by the growing process.

The District Attorney added, "Seizures such as this one - - and the closure of the sophisticated Holbrook growing factory that produced the marijuana seized - - will go a long way toward stopping the illicit marijuana trade not just on Long Island but throughout the entire New York Metropolitan area as well.

It is alleged that the business was operated from two commercial buildings located at 70-1 and 70-2 Knickerbocker Avenue, Holbrook. Equipment used to create the ideal environment for the cultivation of high-grade marijuana included 1000-watt halide lamps attached to timers, carbon dioxide generators, and potent fertilizers. According to District Attorney Brown marijuana of this caliber could typically be sold for a price as high as $5,000 per pound. Approximately 40 to 50 pounds of marihuana were removed from the stalks of the plants, resulting in a total street value of approximately $250,000.

Since this type of operation consumes enormous amounts of electricity, defendants Dandraia and Salinas were allegedly able to avoid prohibitive electrical payments by tapping into Long Island Power Authority's underground main electrical line, thus bypassing the LIPA electric meter. LIPA has estimated that approximately $50,000 of electrical power was stolen over the course of a year.

District Attorney Brown expressed his appreciation to Suffolk County District Attorney Catterson and Narcotics Investigations Bureau Chief Robert Ewald, Det. Sgt. Thomas Brooks of the Suffolk County Police Narcotics Unit and the New York Police Department's Southeast Queens Initiative officers Lt. Michael O'Connell, Deputy Inspector Michael Waltman and Det. James MacDonald all under the supervision of Inspector John Regan.

Assistant District Attorney Peter A. Crusco, Chief of the District Attorney's Narcotics Investigations Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Natalya Kirsch under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Robert D. Alexander are in charge of the investigation.

It should be noted that an arrest is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.