Four suspects busted with alleged Mexican drug importer in takedown of Bronx heroin, fentanyl operation
January 31, 2019
Approximately 70 pounds of heroin and fentanyl have been seized from a wholesale distribution network in the Bronx and Yonkers.
A wholesale drug dealing operation peddling kilos of Mexican heroin and fentanyl was smashed as authorities seized $10 million of their deadly imported product in Yonkers and the Bronx , officials said Thursday.
Accused ringleader Juan Silva Santos was charged with operating as a major drug trafficker when he was picked up with three local co-conspirators and a Mexican national, said city Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
An Oct. 25, 2018 raid on the luxury Yonkers apartment building where Santos resided turned up 14 kilos of drugs hidden inside a suitcase stashed inside a storage locker, officials said. Investigators also found $28,000 cash inside a master bedroom closet at Santos’ fifth-floor apartment.
Authorities also recovered 18 kilos of drugs from a Bronx stash house just 11 miles south in the Soundview section, with 12 kilos stuffed inside a hidden compartment in the rear of a bedroom closet and the rest hidden beneath the bed or wedged between the mattress and box spring.
When officers arrived at the Underhill Ave. building, they found accused co-conspirator Ezequiel Then, 39, of the Bronx, using a heat-sealing device to package a kilo of fentanyl, officials charges.
A second heat sealer, along with drug paraphernalia, was recovered from the apartment, and authorities discovered a kilo press used to shape drugs into bricks and plates used to leave a brand imprint on the packaged drugs — including a scorpion and Chinese characters.
“Through a direct connection to Mexican-based suppliers, the distribution network stockpiled heroin, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” said Brennan. “The types of narcotics in this case have fueled New York City’s epidemic of overdose fatalities.”
Santos, 31, was arrested with the other four suspects one day after drug dealer Jesus Vega Guzman, 35, of Sinaola, Mexico, flew into JFK International Airport to meet with his New York customers, officials said. The pair were taken into custody after eating at a Popeye’s restaurant near the Bronx apartment.
The investigation involved the special prosecutor’s office, along with the NYPD, the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the NYPD, New York state police and the Bronx district attorney.
Santos was held on $750,000 bond.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/ny...story.html
January 31, 2019
Approximately 70 pounds of heroin and fentanyl have been seized from a wholesale distribution network in the Bronx and Yonkers.
A wholesale drug dealing operation peddling kilos of Mexican heroin and fentanyl was smashed as authorities seized $10 million of their deadly imported product in Yonkers and the Bronx , officials said Thursday.
Accused ringleader Juan Silva Santos was charged with operating as a major drug trafficker when he was picked up with three local co-conspirators and a Mexican national, said city Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
An Oct. 25, 2018 raid on the luxury Yonkers apartment building where Santos resided turned up 14 kilos of drugs hidden inside a suitcase stashed inside a storage locker, officials said. Investigators also found $28,000 cash inside a master bedroom closet at Santos’ fifth-floor apartment.
Authorities also recovered 18 kilos of drugs from a Bronx stash house just 11 miles south in the Soundview section, with 12 kilos stuffed inside a hidden compartment in the rear of a bedroom closet and the rest hidden beneath the bed or wedged between the mattress and box spring.
When officers arrived at the Underhill Ave. building, they found accused co-conspirator Ezequiel Then, 39, of the Bronx, using a heat-sealing device to package a kilo of fentanyl, officials charges.
A second heat sealer, along with drug paraphernalia, was recovered from the apartment, and authorities discovered a kilo press used to shape drugs into bricks and plates used to leave a brand imprint on the packaged drugs — including a scorpion and Chinese characters.
“Through a direct connection to Mexican-based suppliers, the distribution network stockpiled heroin, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” said Brennan. “The types of narcotics in this case have fueled New York City’s epidemic of overdose fatalities.”
Santos, 31, was arrested with the other four suspects one day after drug dealer Jesus Vega Guzman, 35, of Sinaola, Mexico, flew into JFK International Airport to meet with his New York customers, officials said. The pair were taken into custody after eating at a Popeye’s restaurant near the Bronx apartment.
The investigation involved the special prosecutor’s office, along with the NYPD, the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the NYPD, New York state police and the Bronx district attorney.
Santos was held on $750,000 bond.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/ny...story.html
