COPS SMASH B'KLYN DRUG BIZ, BUST 153

An illicit pact among drug dealers allegedly carved a Brooklyn
housing project into 19 sectors - encouraging cooperation among crack
and heroin peddlers to avoid detection by cops.

But 163 complaints from fedup residents led 450 cops to swarm the Red
Hook Houses and dismantle the drug operation. Cops arrested 153
accused dealers in Operation Off the Hook in recent weeks.

"Their motto was, 'No Beef, No Police,'" Police Commissioner Raymond
Kelly said yesterday after exposing the truce among crack and heroin dealers.

The 19 crews made about $12 million a year, giving their agreed-upon
turfs names, including Welfare Island, Baby Avenue, Slytown, Paradise
and Poor Block, police said.

"There was like a gentlemen's agreement," said NYPD Inspector Thomas
DiRusso, commanding officer of the Brooklyn South narcotics squad.
"You don't bother us. We won't bother you. So they could all make a profit."

Police seized about $30,000 in cash, 11 guns, two bulletproof vests
and a police scanner. Cops were still looking for 52 suspects late yesterday.

The early-morning and late-night raids were spread over three weeks,
police said.

"This was the largest operation of its kind in memory," Kelly said of
the joint investigation by the NYPD and the Brooklyn district
attorney's office.

The worst of the dealers could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.