‘MILLION IN METH’ DUO FREE

Feds’ bail-law fury

Two suspected Mexican drugcartel smugglers were busted with a $1.2 million stash of crystal meth — but had to be freed thanks to New York’s lax bail laws, authorities said Monday.

The California men, Luis Estrada and Carlos Santos, were allegedly caught red-handed in separate Manhattan busts by the US Drug Enforcement Administration as part of a multi-agency investigation. Yet frustrated agents had to stand by and watch as the suspects were cut loose on supervised release, the federal agency said.

That’s because the two men could only be charged with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as opposed to a narcotic, under the state’s outdated drug laws, authorities said. The rap does not qualify for bail according to the Empire State’s 2019 bail-reform measures.

‘Failure’ of lawmakers

“This is a serious problem,” New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan told The Post.

“The failure to include methamphetamine crimes among bail-eligible offenses was probably an oversight.

“At the time the bail laws were changed, New York City was not a distribution hub for methamphetamine. Now it is, and we are unable to even ask for bail, even if we arrest someone with no ties to the city and a load worth millions of dollars,’’ Brennan said.

“I hope that when legislators are better informed they will make a change,” she added.

Estrada, 19, and Santos, 34, were nabbed with 165 pounds of crystal meth while attempting to make two drop-offs, authorities said.

According to the criminal complaint, Estrada was arrested near the South Street Seaport in Manhattan shortly before 10 a.m. on July 5 lugging a suitcase with 40 pounds of the drug inside.

On July 8, Santos was arrested in Inwood in Manhattan with 100 pounds of crystal meth and a small amount of cocaine.

Yet both men were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court within a day of each other last week — and freed on supervised release.

“Under current New York State law, neither man could be charged with a bail eligible offense,’’ said a joint statement from Brennan’s office, the DEA and Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

“Methamphetamine is categorized as a controlled substance, but not a narcotic drug . . . under current law judges may not set bail on cases involving the possession of only methamphetamine.”

New York state saw 184 meth overdose deaths in 2020, with most of the deaths — 152 — involving a mix of fentanyl, data

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