NARCOTICS GANG DISMANTLED IN BRONX, POLICE SAY

Authorities said yesterday that they had dismantled a narcotics-peddling
gang that they accused of distributing large amounts of heroin in the
Bronx, some of which ended up being resold throughout New England.

Among the 14 people arrested was the co-owner of a popular Thai boxing gym
in the Bronx, who was identified by authorities as a leader of the gang,
which used walkie-talkies and rooftop lookouts to avoid detection.

Bridget G. Brennan, a New York City special narcotics prosecutor, said the
gym's owner, William Rivera, was believed to have run the operation out of
his apartment on Creston Avenue and supplied a ring of lower-level dealers.

The dealers, she said, sold up to $50,000 worth of heroin a week, much of
it in $10 glassine bags that were stamped with names like Gangsta, Dynasty,
Royal Flush and Bad Boy.

Mr. Rivera was identified by Ms. Brennan as the co-owner of the Roaring
Lion's Muay Thai Gym, a school on the Grand Concourse that instructs people
in the art of Thai boxing.

The Web site for the school states that Mr. Rivera, 35, studied the martial
arts for 25 years and trained in Hong Kong and Thailand.

In Bronx Supreme Court yesterday, Mr. Rivera pleaded not guilty to a charge
of conspiring to sell narcotics and was ordered held on $250,000 bail.

The authorities said they had not discovered any evidence that the martial
arts school or its personnel played a role in any heroin distribution.

Misael Aponte, who owns the school with Mr. Rivera, said he knew Mr. Rivera
only to be a martial arts instructor and personal trainer and said he was
not aware of any allegations of drug dealing.

The police, who conducted a yearlong investigation in conjunction with Ms.
Brennan's office, said they recovered five guns from apartments controlled
by the gang.