Orange County Drug Task Force Sees Success in Illegal Firearms Confiscations, Investigations

The years 2024 and 2025 included major operations and seizures for the drug- and firearm-focused task force.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler speaks at a press conference regarding Operation Powder Burn, in Goshen, N.Y., on Aug. 1, 2025. Oliver Mantyk/The Epoch Times

ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y.—Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler on Jan. 9 highlighted the Orange County Drug Task Force’s success since its inception in 2015 and emphasized the importance of its operations for capturing illegal firearms.

“The sheer quantity of narcotics and the number of illegally possessed guns recovered by the Task Force before they could be distributed throughout the County has saved innumerable lives,” Hoovler said in a statement.

During task force operations in 2024 and 2025, 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of narcotics such as cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin were acquired through controlled purchases. The task force also shifted its focus toward illegal firearms during that time.

Guns related to the drug trade are often used in violent crimes in Orange County, the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. In 2024, the task force made 46 arrests, recovered 31 firearms, and seized 12 vehicles. It made 47 arrests, recovered 79 firearms, and seized five vehicles in 2025.

“We know that narcotics trafficking feeds the root causes of the violent and property crimes in Orange County,” Hoovler said. “And where we find drugs, we inevitably find illegally possessed firearms.”

The task force is a collaboration between the District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and local police departments. The organization plans and conducts long-term drug and firearms investigations. The force broke county records with significant drug and gun busts in both 2024 and 2025.

“Simply put, the Task Force has and will continue to interrupt the flow of dangerous drugs and guns into our communities,” Hoovler said.

“Operation Hot Lunch” in 2024 was a six-month investigation that resulted in nearly 30 arrests in May of that year, as well as the seizure of about 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of cocaine, 30 illegal firearms, and more than $45,000.

About 40 law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation, which targeted a drug and firearm ring operating out of a food truck that often parked in front of the Newburgh city court. The ring dealt an amount of cocaine worth more than $3 million from Florida, in the Hudson Valley area, every year.

“Operation Powder Burn” in 2025 resulted in the confiscation of a large illegal gun cache. An eight-month investigation into a Newburgh restaurant that was selling narcotics and firearms ended on July 30, with charges against 20 people in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

During the investigation, undercover cops bought 55 firearms and 700 grams (1.5 pounds) of cocaine and fentanyl. In all, the operation included 20 law enforcement agencies and 300 officers across several states. Additionally, 12 illegal firearms, 4 ounces of fentanyl, 0.5 kilograms (1.1 pounds) of cocaine, $65,000, and large amounts of synthetic marijuana were confiscated during the operation.

The task force was also involved in an investigation in New Windsor, where three people were arraigned and indicted in November 2025 for allegedly stealing $3.5 million through Medicaid fraud.

The three people ran two Medicaid-contracted transportation companies. They were accused of fraudulently claiming to have transported patients to and from hospitals and received Medicaid payments between 2020 and 2024.

The drug task force worked with the District Attorney’s Office, the Office of the New York State Comptroller, the Orange County White Collar Crimes Task Force, and other agencies on the case.