Bronx bust nets $7.5M in heroin, fentanyl
They were dealing in death — and they knew it.
A band of Bronx drug dealers stamped the brand names “Death,” “Kill” and “Heartless” on their lethal wares, which they hid in a hole in the wall behind an apartment medicine cabinet, authorities said Thursday.
City and federal investigators found nearly $7.5 million in heroin and fentanyl, along with packing equipment and more than 100 stamps, when they searched a third-floor apartment on Morrison Ave. by Westchester Ave. in Soundview late Wednesday, officials said.
The bust — which was part of an ongoing probe into New York City drug traffickers with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, law enforcement sources said, also netted five alleged dealers.
Investigators with an Drug Enforcement Administration-NYPD task force were doing surveillance when they saw one of the suspects, Luis Guzman-Rojas, 46, walk into the building empty-handed, then walk out with a black shopping bag, authorities said.
He hopped into a livery car, and when cops and Drug Enforcement Administration agents pulled it over, they found a kilo of what’s believed to be heroin in the bag, authorities said.
The city Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s office got a warrant for the apartment, where the task force found 11 more kilos of heroin in a duffel bag in a bedroom closet, and and 10 kilos hidden in the wall behind a medicine cabinet.
Investigators found more drugs throughout the apartment, along with three scales, four strainers, 12 electric coffee grinders, 16 tape dispensers, nearly 300 rolls of tape, three large cases of glassine envelopes and more than 100 stamps to brand them with.
The stamps also included names like ‘Dexter,” — a nod to Showtime series about a serial killer — as well as “100%,” “UPS,” “Black Panther” and “Super High.”
Four more suspects — Matias RosarioRamon, 37, Anthony Polanco, 29, Willy De La Cruz, 28, and Pedro Sandoval, 26 — were present during the raid, authorities said.
All five suspects are slated to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court Thursday night.