How the cops and the DEA caught ‘Dre’

Law enforcement officials are fighting Long Island’s opioid epidemic by going after the alleged dealers linked to the deaths of customers.

To find and prosecute them, they’ve turned to overdose victims’ cell phones and social media accounts for a trail and evidence.

Here, according to court documents, is how police used a victim’s phone to find Eveen Cullum, an alleged drug dealer known as “Dre.”

This description of events come from an affidavit submitted by a police officer filed in U.S. Eastern District Court.

May 30, 2017, around 7:30 p.m.

Glen Cove police responded to a house where an apparent fatal overdose had occurred after the victim ingested opioids. They found a plastic bag with residue that tested positive for containing fentanyl, a drug more powerful than morphine.

Officers searched the victim’s phone and saw a text message conversation from earlier in the day. The contact was saved as “Dre.” In messages exchanged with “Dre” that day, the victim ordered $40 worth of heroin. “Dre” agreed to bring it to him at home.

Less than an hour after officers arrived on the scene, they used the victim’s phone to write back to “Dre.” Writing as the deceased, they asked for more of the same drugs. Instead of coming to the house, they told “Dre” to meet at a restaurant.

”Dre” wrote back, agreeing to deliver two more $40 quantities of heroin at the restaurant.

Around 9:40 p.m.

Officers set up surveillance in the restaurant’s parking lot. Just before 10, “Dre” texted that he was nearby.

10:04 p.m.

Cullum reportedly pulled up in a white SUV. Officers blocked the vehicle from leaving the parking lot and officers approached him. Cullum attempted to flee but was ultimately detained by the officers and placed under arrest.

Officers searched him and his car. They said they found two foil packets containing fentanyl, a plastic bag containing cocaine, and two plastic bags containing what appeared to be marijuana. They also found a cell phone.

Officers used the victim’s cell phone to call the number for “Dre” they had been texting. The cell phone taken from the SUV rang, authorities said.

Cullum was read his Miranda rights and agreed to waive them. He spoke to officers and admitted, among other things, to selling the victim the “dope” for $40 that day at his house, and that he planned to sell him more, authorities said.

Cullum was indicted by a federal grand jury in September that charged him with distribution of fentanyl and attempted distribution of fentanyl. Cullum pleaded not guilty on Sept. 19. A judge agreed to continue an order of detention requested after his arrest. He is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 15. Click here for the full story