On Friday, November 16, Delaware County sheriff's deputies arrested 27-year-old Miguel Santiago in the village of Walton on a felony drug charge. Police say Santiago tried to sell 80 bags of heroin to an undercover drug enforcement officer.
A press release from the Sheriff's Office cites Santiago as a resident of the Bronx, but Delaware County Undersheriff Craig DuMond said that Santiago had been living in Walton for some time. DuMond said that the Sheriff's Office has been investigating the case for six months.
"This guy has been living in the village of Walton for quite a considerable a period of time," Dumond said.
DuMond said that Santiago's arrest is a major one for local law enforcement.
"It's a significant arrest for us. We're proud to make an arrest that involves this type of an individual and this quantity of drugs. However, the sad thing about these types of things is that there always seem to be more individuals willing to step up and fill the void left behind," he said.
The most recent arrest is a small piece of a much larger problem in the region, DuMond said.
"We have a prolific problem in the county, and it's not just our county, it's everywhere around us," he said. "It's a tough issue to deal with, trying to eradicate these drugs with the limited resources we have."
DuMond said that he expects more arrests will be made in the area as the investigation continues.
Santiago is charged with one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class B felony. He was arraigned in the Village of Delhi Court and remanded to the Delaware County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000.00 cash bail or $100,000.00 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in the Village of Delhi Court on Tuesday, November 20.
