Six men accused of operating a $7 million fentanyl distribution ring from a Bronx apartment were released without bail under New York's new criminal justice law on Wednesday after Assistant District Attorney Michael Di Paolo said none of the defendants were eligible for bail.

The New York Post says the apartment was being used as a "heroin and fentanyl packaging mill." The New York Drug Enforcement Task Force says it found hundreds of thousands of envelopes filled with suspected fentanyl that was being prepared for distribution in New York City and New England. That's New Bedford and Fall River and Taunton. To you and your kids and your co-workers and their kids.

A judge in Manhattan District Court ordered the defendants to turn over their passports, as a number of them have connections to the Dominican Republic. The judge ordered them to appear for arraignment on February 27 before releasing them. How dare he?

The Post says lawyers for the defendants convinced the judge that the men are not flight risks because none of them have criminal records and family members with court dealings of their own turned up for their arraignments.

New York's liberal criminal justice reform, drafted and enacted by Democrats, is threatening all of society. Six men who were aiming to flood the streets of New York and New England with $7 million worth of fentanyl were allowed to walk free from a courtroom in Manhattan. That is disturbing.

New York's sanctuary policies recently allowed a 24-year-old illegal immigrant to evade deportation by ICE and once released he is charged with raping and murdering a 92-year woman, breaking her spine and ribs in the process before leaving her for dead on a sidewalk.

Nice going, New York.

There are those in state government who are proposing similar laws for Massachusetts while refusing to enforce existing laws that protect law-abiding residents. We must continue to resist them.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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New York's Liberalism Is a Threat to New Bedford [OPINION] - wbsm.com