$24M in drugs in takedown of Bx. ‘warehouse’
The “Amazon warehouse” for illegal drugs was uncovered in a Bronx apartment where an estimated $24 million worth of illicit substances were funneled, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
An investigation led the Drug Enforcement Agency’s New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force to the apartment on Henwood Place near Walton Ave. in Morris Heights Monday evening, where the multi-million dollar stash was found.
“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 prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.
When the task force arrived at the third-floor apartment, Julio Mota Plasencia, 39, allegedly ran into a back bedroom in the apartment and stood on a windowsill, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York stated.
Agents and officers seized over 240 pounds of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and 50 pounds of what is believed to be crystal meth scattered around the stash house, the narcotics prosecutors said.
They also uncovered 75,000 counterfeit pills stamped “M-30 in an attempt to resemble 30mg oxycodone.
Officials believe the phony pills are laced with fentanyl — a synthetic opioid the DEA says is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, the prosecutors said. The seized drugs will be submitted for laboratory analysis.
As authorities uncovered the enormous stash of drugs and paraphernalia, they also came across a closet hiding three ziplock bags full of heroin and four boxes of rifle ammunition that totaled 80 rounds, officials said.
Mota Plasencia was arrested in the apartment and charged with operating as a major trafficker and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
He had multiple forms of identification with fake aliases, including a Dominican Republic driver’s license, in the apartment, officials said.
Mota Plasencia is being held at Rikers Island pending trial, Department of Correction records show.