2 arrested after 8 kilos of fentanyl found in Bronx apartment down hall from daycare: sources
One state trooper and NYPD detective got sick from the fentanyl, according to police sources
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- Two people have been arrested after eight kilograms of fentanyl was found in an apartment in the Bronx, right down the hall from a day care center in the same building.
FDNY Hazmat, EMS and firefighters were called to the building located at 780 Garden St. between Prospect Avenue and Southern Boulevard around 3 p.m. to evaluate exposure after a report of a fentanyl spill.
Law enforcement agents from a task force of NYPD, state police and the DEA arrested two men at a first-floor apartment after an undercover drug buy there late Tuesday afternoon, according to the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office.
Police sources say that's what revealed the massive amount of the synthetic opioid, about eight kilos in total. The tiniest trace of it can be fatal to a child.
They said some were in brick form and others were in containers with lids. When the lids were opened, the fumes filled the apartment and that was when EMS were called. The cooler contained loose powder that caused a strong odor to occur inside the apartment.
The exposure was enough to make two of the responding officers sick. Sources told Eyewitness News that one of the officers was an NYPD detective on the task force, he was treated at the scene. The other was a state police trooper who was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital.
The building houses not one, but two day care centers. One of them, on the first floor, was evacuated as a precaution before firefighters in hazmat gear would go in to search and decontaminate the apartment, just several doors down the hall. The second day care is on the third floor.
"I'm in shock. I'm in shock. I've got 16 years living in this place, never heard something like that, never," said Alicia Quinones, who lives across the street.
Neighbors in the building and on the block told Eyewitness News that they never suspected something so dangerous might be happening here.
"And near a day care center? That's disgusting," said Sodet Know, who lives down the street.
"I do see people bringing their children to the daycare in the morning when I'm leaving out because I leave early. So, you know, yeah, that's just mind boggling to me to know that two officers got sick from it," said Tiffany Robinson, who lives in the building.
Tuesday's fentanyl bust was eerily similar to one that occurred last year in the Bronx, where a toddler at a day care center where fentanyl was being packed died from exposure to the drug. It sent three other children to the hospital.
Charges are still pending for the two men arrested on Tuesday. They are in NYPD custody but are likely to face federal charges given the quantity of fentanyl.
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