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Two women from Texas have been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy for allegedly transporting 20 kilograms of cocaine – having a street value of more than $4 million – from Texas to New York, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Nolvia Lili Amador Manueles, 26, of Houston, Texas, and Monica Lucia Venegas Grimaldo, 19, of Brownsville, were each remanded in custody on Monday after they were arraigned on charges of first- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy in the first degree.
According to the charges, last Sunday, around 11:30 a.m., police officers in the vicinity of Boerum Place and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn stopped a U-Haul truck with Arizona license plates being driven by Grimaldo. Manueles was the passenger.
Information acquired from an ongoing, long-term investigation, Brown said, led cops to believe that the truck may be part of an organized drug operation in Queens. Manueles, Grimaldo, and the vehicle were then taken to the 115th Precinct stationhouse in Jackson Heights.
Investigators executed a search warrant on the U-Haul vehicle around 6 p.m. on Sunday, and found approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine hidden in two black speakers in the storage compartment of the truck. The cocaine is estimated to be worth about $4.2 million on the street.
If convicted, Manueles and Grimaldo face up to 20 years in prison.
“The arrests of these two defendants are the result of a long-term investigation,” Brown noted. “The defendants allegedly transported drugs intended to be sold in Queens and other parts of New York City. Let drug dealers be forewarned: This is not the place to import or distribute illegal drugs. Both women are now facing considerable time behind bars if convicted.”
