250 pounds of drugs worth $24M seized in Bronx stash-house raid: officials
MOUNT HOPE, Bronx (WABC) -- Authorities raided a drug stash house in the Bronx Monday night, seizing 250 pounds of illegal narcotics worth about $24 million before they could hit the streets, officials said.
The drugs seized from the apartment in the Mount Hope section included heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, crystal meth, and tens of thousands of fake pills.
Julio Mota Plasencia, 39, was arrested and charged with operating as a major trafficker after the multi-agency investigation. Officials said he tried to flee the raid but was found hiding on the bedroom window sill of the Henwood Place apartment, near an open duffle bug with 20 kilograms of narcotics.
The suspect was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday night and is being held without bail.
"While this case is consistent with the trend towards high-level traffickers selling many different drug types, it is highly unusual to find such large amounts concentrated in one location," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan in a news release detailing the raid.
According to the criminal complaint, agents and officers found a gym bag in a closet with 50,000 to 75,000 blue, counterfeit pills stamped "M-30," a common notation on oxycodone pills. These pills are believed to contain fentanyl.
A second closet concealed two duffle bags containing 30 to 40 kilograms of narcotics and three zip-close bags full of heroin, two of which were labeled "Cartel" and "Goma." Also inside that closet were four boxes of rifle ammunition, with a total of 80 rounds.
Authorities also seized a red cooler from the living room that contained about 26 kilograms of cocaine, and a duffle bag holding cylindrical packages wrapped in plastic believed to contain crystal meth, about 50 pounds worth. A cardboard box in the living room contained a kilogram of cocaine along with car parts.
More cocaine was found throughout the apartment, three kilograms in a hallway hamper and two kilograms on a kitchen counter, apparently in the process of being packaged.
Drug paraphernalia and packaging materials were discovered throughout the apartment, with a suitcase holding a kilo press used for prepping drugs for distribution. A ledger contained Plasencia's name along with multiple dollar amounts. Several forms of ID with his picture but different names were seized, including a driver's license from the Dominican Republic.
"Data doesn't lie, New York is under siege by criminal drug networks flooding our city streets with fentanyl, killing people at record rates," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino. "This significant seizure proves that today's traffickers have all the ingredients to make toxic cocktails for retail sales, deliberately blinding the users of what they are really getting."
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