‘WHEELS’ COME OFF
Heroin crew nailed with fancy cars and $3G tot stroller
THE FEDS SAY they’ve busted six blinged-out drug runners rolling in enough loot to rock a fleet of luxury cars — and a $3,000 Versace baby stroller.
The suspects, from Brooklyn and Queens, were arrested Wednesday on charges of heroin trafficking. During the arrests, authorities recovered about 12 kilos of smack — worth about $900,000 — at a stash house.
They also seized five vehicles — a Rolls Royce Ghost ($295,000), Lamborghini Hurcán ($199,000), Audi R8 Spyder ($162,000), Mercedes CLS63 AMG and Range Rover Sport.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors say the men were hooked up with a Mexican drug cartel and crossed the border to coordinate with conspirators. The men were “members of a multimillion-dollar heroin trafficking organization,” said Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde.
The defendants were allegedly moving heroin to Los Angeles and Chicago; locally, they had protection from a Bushwick gang called the Young Gunnerz. Law enforcement built the case with tactics like street buys, video surveillance and the analysis of phone records and social media postings. The investigation began in March 2015.
If convicted, the men could face up to life in prison. They were hauled into Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday. Four of the men were permanently remanded while detention hearings for two others are set for Thursday.
Victor (Bebo) Agosto, 29; Luis Lopez, 35; and Peter Vasquez, 30, were allegedly at the top of an operation distributing hundreds of kilos of heroin every year.
Prosecutors say they sunk their drug money into all kinds of upscale items — flashy jewelry, fast cars and fantastic vacations.
And they bought fancy children’s accessories.
Lopez and his wife “chauffeured their youngest child in a Versace stroller that retails for over $3,000, and dressed their 8-year-old in Gucci sneakers worth hundreds of dollars,” prosecutors said, pointing to Instagram posts.
Prosecutors said Santa Claus was extra nice to the naughty narcotics crew on Christmas 2015. The gifts included an Audemars Piguet watch for Lopez valued around $20,000 and a Cuban-link gold bracelet for Vasquez.
Lopez and Vasquez, brothers-in-law, were allegedly Miami regulars, renting luxury homes and yachts. In recent years, they flew off to places like Montego Bay and Punta Cana.
But prosecutors accused the men of violence and firearm possession. A cooperator said he confronted members of the Trinitarios gang with Vasquez and Lopez in April 2012. Vasquez opened fire, but a bullet struck an innocent 10-year-old boy in the side. Meanwhile, Agosto was allegedly involved in the murder of two men who tried to rob him.
Agosto, Lopez, Vasquez and others allegedly burned the bodies to destroy evidence, court papers said.
Prosecutors say they can show the links between the men through video surveillance of gatherings at Lopez’s car wash and garage, as well as phone records and social media postings.
Court papers say the drug operation stretched back as early as 2011, with law enforcement in various states already seizing $800,000 in drug money, found in a stash house, “trap” cars with hidden compartments and even a Cheerios box stuffed with $100,000.