Reportedly enough heroin for “every man, woman and child in New York City” was found in a drug bust in The Bronx. The estimated street value of the “heron” found is at least $50M, which means you can bet that there is one pissed off Mexican connect south of the border.
Reports the New York Daily News:
A year-long Bronx drug probe delivered a stunning and sobering payoff: The seizure of enough heroin to get every one of the city’s 8.4 million residents high.
It was the largest single Drug Enforcement Administration seizure of heroin in New York State history — and the fourth biggest ever in the nation.
“This load was so large, it carried the potential of supplying a dose of heroin to every man, woman and child in New York City,” said city Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
Months of surveillance and wiretaps led authorities to a Chevrolet Suburban loaded with a record-setting 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of Mexican heroin with a street value of more than $50 million. Authorities also found an apartment used to stash $2 million in drug money, officials announced Tuesday.
The alleged drug kingpin of the operation was 46-year-old Jose Mercedes aka Hippie, who ran the operation along with a 19-year-old named Yenci Cruz Francisco.
The drugs were tidily divided into kilogram packages labelled “Rolex” in a hidden compartment under the floor of the SUV. Seventy packages were found along with $24,000 in cash.
Two members of the crew, Mercedes’ son Jose Mercedes, JR. and Juan Infante, had been arrested and charged back in November 2014 (10 kilos of heroin were found in the wall of their Bronx apartment), but there is no word yet if they snitched on Hippie.
“The $50 million street value of the heroin in this case is a conservative estimate,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan of the DEA in a press statement. “To put it in perspective, this load was so large it carried the potential of supplying a dose of heroin to every man, woman and child in New York City. While this important seizure stopped a huge amount of heroin from flooding our city, it also highlights the critical need to intercept heroin before it ever reaches our region.”
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Photo: DEA
