Forty people have been indicted for their involvement in a massive drug trafficking ring that operated on Long Island, following an 18-month long takedown dubbed by Nassau County, New York officials as “Operation Honeycomb.” Authorities said Monday that the major narcotic trafficking ring operated in the Hempstead area including out of illegal daycare centers. Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said her office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Task Force began an investigation in 2019 amid a spike in drug dealing and violence, and last year, amid an increase in drug overdoses. The DA’s office and ATF investigators identified nine individuals as alleged “major” traffickers, and as distributing high-value narcotics as far away as Puerto Rico and California, as well as Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. These individuals include: Able McTootle, Eric Butler, Willy Matias, Allen Evans, Eric Poston, Matthew Williams a/k/a Vernon …