A 49-year-old Newburgh man has been arrested on felony drug charges after an investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation that allegedly moved drugs through Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties.
David A. Herring III was arrested Nov. 5 and arraigned in Rockland County Court before Judge Kevin Russo following a seven-month investigation led by the New York state attorney general's Organized Crime Task Force and the New York State Police.
Investigators seized more than two kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $60,000, from a hidden compartment in Herring's vehicle during a traffic stop in Ramapo on Oct. 30, 2025, according to Attorney General Letitia James.
Authorities allege Herring transported cocaine from Westchester County through Rockland County to Orange County for redistribution.
The investigation began in March 2025 and involved hundreds of hours of physical and covert surveillance, along with reviews of phone records and law enforcement databases.
On Oct. 30, 2025, following surveillance in Westchester County, state police stopped Herring's Subaru Outback in Ramapo as he was returning to Orange County. A state police K-9 detected the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle. A subsequent search uncovered a hidden compartment in the trunk containing approximately two kilograms of cocaine and a bag of cocaine adulterant, authorities said.
A three-count indictment unsealed Nov. 5 in Rockland County Court charges Herring with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, a class A-I felony; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a class B felony; and criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor.
James said the investigation disrupted a drug trafficking operation operating across multiple Hudson Valley counties. State Police Superintendent Steven G. James and Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza also credited cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the investigation.
The investigation was conducted by the state attorney general's office and State Police Troop F's Violent Gangs and Narcotics Enforcement Team, with assistance from the Town of New Windsor Police Department and Yonkers police.