NEW YORK -- A federal agent was shot in the chin Friday during raids that netted 32 suspects from a 'multi-million dollar a week' drug ring whose source was Colombian cocaine czar Carlos Lehder, authorities said.
The injured agent, Gary Blanch, 36, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, was shot once with a .38-caliber revolver after he and two other agents broke down the door of a garden apartment in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said Robert Stutman, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office.
Blanch was listed in satisfactory condition at Jacobi Hospital but will need reconstructive dental and facial surgery, Stutman said.
Blanch's alleged assailant, Adam Nezaj, 34, barricaded himself in the apartment after the shooting, but later spoke with Police Department hostage negotiators and gave up, Stutman said.
Agents moved in on Nezaj about 8:30 a.m. after a tip received in an earlier raid nearby indicated that a wanted felon and narcotics dealer, Enrique Rivasulla, had dropped off a large quantity of cocaine at Nezaj's home the night before, Stutman said.
Rivasulla remained at large Friday, agents said.
The bearded and long-haired Nezaj appeared at a bail hearing in U.S. District Court dressed in casual clothes but wearing socks without shoes. He was charged with assault of a federal officer.
Magistrate Ruth Washington asked Nezaj, a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from Yugoslavia with his family in 1967, if he knew why he was in court and he replied, 'Yes. Because I shot an officer.'
Nezaj's court-appointed attorney, Gerald McMahon, said his client, who has 'interest' in six Bronx apartment buildings, was alone when the agents broke in 'looking for Enrique' and Nezaj fired at them.
McMahon called the shooting 'an unfortunate accident.'
The attorney also requested medical attention for Nezaj, saying the suspect was a recent heroin addict undergoing withdrawal.
Another suspect arrested in the raids was indentified as Lorraine Rios, the leader of the ring,U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani said.
'One of the unusual things about this ring is that it allegedly was run by a woman,' Guiliani said, adding that the ring was a primary distributor of cocaine imported by Carlos Lehder, the Colombian cocaine czar captured Wednesday and extradited to the United States for prosecution.
Stutman said 'the cocaine all came from Colombia ... the Medellin cartel is believed to be the source.' The Medellin organization, which has supplied 59 tons of cocaine to the U.S. since 1979, is run by Lehder and two others, authorities said.
Nezaj's court-appointed lawyer, Gerald McMahon, said his client was alone when the agents broke in 'looking for Enrique' and Nezaj fired at them. McMahon called the shooting 'an unfortunate accident.'
The attorney requested medical attention for Nezaj, saying he is a heroin addict undergoing withdrawal.
Another suspect arrested in the raids was indentified as Lorraine Rios, the leader of the ring, U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani said.
'One of the unusual things about this ring is that it allegedly was run by a woman,' Guiliani said, adding that the ring was a primary distributor of cocaine imported by Carlos Lehder, the Colombian cocaine czar captured Wednesday and extradited to the United States for prosecution.
Stutman said 'the cocaine all came from Colombia ... the Medellin cartel is believed to be the source.'
The Medellin organization, which has supplied 59 tons of cocaine to the U.S. since 1979, is run by Lehder and two others, authorities said.
Giuliani called the ring 'a multimillion-dollar a week organization.'
The raids, which began about 4 a.m. at locations in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and suburban Yonkers, were carried out by 110 agents from the U.S. Attorney's office, the DEA, the U.S. Customs Service and ATF after a year-long undercover investigation that resulted in 28 arrest warrants, officials said.
Agents found relatively small quantities of drugs, but the shooting of an agent -- the fourth in five weeks -- and the seizure of 28 weapons indicate that, 'the drug traffic picture in general has clearly gotten more violent,' Stutman said.
One DEA agent in New York said, 'We usually lose only about one agent a year, but we've lost two this year already. It looks like 1987 is the year of violence for the agents.'
One of those arrested was Linda Oken, a mid-level manager at NBC. She was arrested at her Greenwich Village apartment, where a cocaine dealer had allegedly been seen selling the drug for about a year, Stutman said.
An NBC spokesman said Oken was responsible for awards and special presentations at the network. The dealer was identified as Bruce Heutchy, 37, an unemployed video editor, Stutman said.
'A large quantity of cocaine -- about a quarter-pound -- and a large quantity of marijuana were found in the apartment,' Stutman said.
Oken, 34, was charged with possession of a criminal substance with the intent to sell, as were the other suspects, whose occupations included butcher, antique salesman, schoolteacher and building superintendant, Stutman said.
