Defendant Extradited From Dominican Republic To Face Charges For Using Manhattan Apartment To Operate Industrial-Scale Pill Pressing Operation

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), Michael Alfonso, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), Farhana Islam, announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging RUDDY CENIT-THEN with conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. CENIT-THEN was presented earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn and ordered detained pending trial.

"New Yorkers want us to send a message: New York will not be a safe haven for any level of drug distribution, much less fentanyl and methamphetamine pill factories," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "As alleged, Ruddy Cenit-Then conspired with others to operate a pill mill out of a 20th-floor Manhattan apartment, right next to thousands of innocent New Yorkers just going about their lives. That conduct will never be tolerated by this Office. I am deeply grateful for the efforts of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office as we work to keep methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other deadly and debilitating narcotics off our streets."

"Ruddy Cenit-Then now stands accused of using a Manhattan apartment as the base for a clandestine pill-pressing factory to produce narcotics-laced tablets on an industrial scale," said HSI Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso. "Pumping these toxic pills into our communities drives overdoses, fuels crime, and erodes the safety and stability of our families and local businesses. HSI New York, together with our Homeland Security Task Force partners, will continue to utilize every lawful tool at our disposal to dismantle these operations and protect our neighborhoods from this deadly trade."

"The DEA and our law enforcement partners remain steadfast in holding accountable those individuals responsible for pushing fentanyl and methamphetamine into our neighborhoods," stated DEA New York Enforcement Division Special Agent in Charge Farhana Islam. "Ruddy Cenit-Then, who is charged with operating an industrial-scale pill press operation in Washington Heights and sought refuge in the Dominican Republic, thought he was safe from the reach of the DEA and our partners. Today he learned that our global footprint remains strong and wide, and that we are committed to holding traffickers accountable both here at home and abroad."

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:^[1]

On July 24, 2025, pursuant to a judicially authorized warrant, law enforcement officers searched an apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan that appeared to be used by CENIT-THEN. Inside the apartment, law enforcement officers found evidence that CENIT-THEN was using the apartment to run a clandestine, industrial-scale pill pressing operation. Hidden behind panels inside a closet, law enforcement found, among other things, an industrial-scale pill press and approximately 37 pounds of a white crystal substance contained in a series of Ziplock bags for which field tests positively indicated the presence of methamphetamine. The pill press, drugs, and other items found behind the hidden panels are pictured below in Image 1, and the hidden panels are pictured below in Image 2.

Image 1

Image 2

RUDDY CENIT-THEN, 46, of the Dominican Republic, is charged with one count of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The statutory minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of HSI New York and the Homeland Security Task Force, DEA Group D-25, the New York State Police, the New York City Police Department, and the Kings County District Attorney's Office. Mr. Clayton also thanked the DEA Chemist Team for its processing of the scene and the U.S Marshals Service for the arrest of CENIT-THEN. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs worked with Dominican authorities in securing CENIT-THEN's arrest and extradition.

This case is being handled by the Office's Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Getzel Berger, Katherine Cheng, and Joseph H. Rosenberg are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.