In a massive Bronx raid, more than 250 pounds of different narcotics totaling about $24 million were recovered as a top Drug Enforcement Administration federal agent warned that New York is “under siege” by an influx of lethal substances. According to the New York Post, authorities seized up to 75,000 fake pills thought to contain fentanyl along with around 110 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and 50 pounds of crystal meth.
DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Frank Tarentino stated that “Data doesn’t lie, New York is under siege by criminal drug networks flooding our city streets with fentanyl, killing people at record rates.” He added that “This significant seizure proves that today’s traffickers have all the ingredients to make toxic cocktails for retail sales, deliberately blinding the users of what they are really getting.”
NYC’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan called the apartment an “Amazon warehouse” for lethal drugs. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell both called the substances poison. Clark remarked, “This seizure illustrates what we are up against in the Bronx with traffickers bringing vast amounts of poisonous drugs that devastate communities here and in the metropolitan area.”
The suspect Mota Plasencia was apprehended by officials from a DEA task force, which includes local, state, and federal agents on Monday night. Authorities said that when officers found him, he had roughly 20 kilograms of drugs close by. Bags of narcotics were discovered throughout the residence. A package at the entrance to the apartment contained 50,000–75,000 fake blue tablets with the marking M-30, made to look like a commonly abused type of oxycodone. One closet had three ziplock bags of heroin, two of which were branded “Cartel” and “Goma,” as well as two duffel bags with 30 to 40 kilograms of narcotics. A red cooler holding 26 kilos of cocaine and another duffel bag believed to contain crystal meth were found in the living room.
Additionally, authorities found drug paraphernalia, 80 rounds of rifle ammo, and evidence of multiple identities. Plasencia, 39, was charged with acting as a major trafficker along with two charges of unlawful possession of a prohibited substance.
