Photo Courtesy of NYPD
Last month the Queens Narcotics Major Case Squad recovered the largest amount of fentanyl in the history of the city – 64 kilograms, or more than 140 pounds, of the dangerous painkiller – from an apartment in Kew Gardens.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Authorities last month seized more than 140 pounds of pure fentanyl – the largest haul of the dangerous painkiller ever recorded in the five boroughs – from a residential building in Kew Gardens.
On Aug. 1, agents and detectives from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division and the City Police Department’s Queens Narcotics Major Case Squad recovered a total of 213 pounds of narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, at an apartment building on 120th Street.
“The NYPD has been successful in drug interdiction to date, but this seizure goes down in history as a milestone in the ongoing fight against fentanyl,” said Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “This case demonstrates our Department’s deep commitment to protecting the public from drug cartels that seek to profit at the expense of our citizens.”
Prior to the search, NJ-DEA agents saw Rogelio Alvarado-Robles and Blanca Flores-Solis driving in a silver Mercedes-Benz with Florida license plates as they traveled to a Walmart in Manahawkin, N.J. In the Walmart parking lot, Alvarado-Robles took a shopping bag from an unidentified male and then joined Flores-Solis, who had already entered the Walmart. Inside the Walmart, Alvarado-Robles placed the shopping bag into a backpack that Flores-Solis had been carrying. Both then left the Walmart and returned to their car, into which Alvarado-Robles placed the backpack. After several other stops along the way, Alvarado-Robles and Flores-Solis travelled to the Kew Gardens apartment building and pulled into the garage. After they parked, agents approached them and recovered what appeared to be one kilogram of cocaine from the backpack.
Agents and detectives determined that Alvarado-Robles and Flores-Solis were associated with Apt. 4F in the 120th Street building and went to the apartment above the underground parking lot in order to secure the location. At approximately 9 p.m., investigators obtained a court-authorized search warrant and examined 4F. According to authorities, on the floor of one of the bedrooms were four suitcases and a purse, which were found to contain numerous kilogram-sized packages of narcotics. The packages were wrapped in several different colors of plastic wrap and tape.
“The seizure of this amount of narcotics, especially the fentanyl, undoubtedly saved countless lives,” said NJ-DEA Special Agent in Charge Carl Kotowski.
“The sheer volume of fentanyl pouring into the city is shocking,” added Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan. “It’s not only killing a record number of people in New York City, but the city is used as a hub of regional distribution for a lethal substance that is taking thousands of lives throughout the Northeast.”
Subsequent NYPD laboratory analysis revealed that of the 97 packages of narcotics recovered, fentanyl was present in 86. In addition to the 64 kilograms of pure fentanyl, 22 kilograms were composed of fentanyl mixed with heroin, the synthetic opioid tramadol and the tranquilizer ketamine.
“We are facing a new and increasingly deadly crisis in our communities,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “Heroin mixed with the synthetic drug fentanyl is a deadly cocktail. As a result, we’ve seen staggering numbers of fatal overdoses –
far outpacing homicides in Queens.”
