A contractor hired to renovate a home stumbled upon a staggering $11 million worth of drugs and a stash of firearms and ammunition in an abandoned building.
The unnamed construction contractor was assigned to renovate a home in Bellrose in New York’s Queens borough, where millions of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and deadly weapons were secretly housed.
The drugs were initially found in May, after which officials announced the arrest of 43-year-old Victor Rodriguez on Wednesday.
“You can’t even begin to calculate how many lives would have been shortened or ruined by the millions of dollars in deadly narcotics and deadly weapons,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said at a news conference.
“Our families, friends and neighborhoods are all safer thanks to this massive seizure.”
More than $11 million in narcotics and a slew of deadly weapons (pictured) were found in an abandoned home in Queens
Victor Rodriguez, 43, faces 112 charges after allegedly masterminding a scheme to distribute a slew of narcotics across the Big Apple
Items seized included fentanyl and untraceable ‘ghost guns’
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz (pictured at a press conference Wednesday) announced Rodriguez’s arrest, stating, “Our families, friends and neighborhoods are all safer thanks to this massive seizure.”
The stunned contractor found the drugs shortly after taking the job, immediately reported it to 911 and filed a report with the county’s 105th precinct.
Shortly after the contractor left, surveillance footage showed a suspect sprinting to and from the abandoned home carrying two coolers.
Investigators said Wednesday they determined the coolers contained 15 pounds of drugs.
Police claim the man in the video is Rodriguez and accuse him of masterminding a scheme to distribute millions in narcotics across the Big Apple.
Rodriguez was arraigned Friday and faces 112 counts of conspiracy, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of handgun ammunition.
If convicted, the 43-year-old faces a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Officials claim surveillance footage showed Rodriguez running in and out of the Queen’s home with coolers filled with drugs shortly after the contractors left the house.
The large quantity of drugs seized from the Queens property included nearly a million and a half glassine envelopes filled with heroin or fentanyl, which officials estimate have a street value of about $10 million.
Eight kilos of narcotics, more than 1.5 million envelopes filled with drugs and two hundred rounds of ammunition were also found in the stash.
The large quantity of drugs seized from the Queens property included nearly a million and a half glassine envelopes filled with heroin or fentanyl, which officials estimate have a street value of about $10 million.
Eight kilos of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine with a street value of $500,000 were also found in the home.
Among the firearms found in the home were five semi-automatic “ghost guns,” untraceable firearms that can be purchased in pieces online.
‘Ghost gun’ mounting kits were also among the huge inventory.
Two hundred rounds of ammunition were also discovered, along with ammunition feeding devices.
Authorities added that the search also revealed two parking calls associated with Rodriguez.
He is scheduled to appear in court on November 6.
Chief Kevin Williams talks to the media as officials join District Attorney Katz in announcing Rodriguez’s arrest
Officials scored a major victory Wednesday when they announced Rodriguez’s arrest, with District Attorney Katz stating, “We cannot and will not relent in the fight to get drugs and guns off our streets.” We will prosecute anyone involved in this deadly human trafficking.”
In her office’s press release about the arrest, Katz said the charges against Rodriguez amounted to “operating as a major human trafficker.”
“The NYPD and our law enforcement partners will never waver in our commitment to rid our city of illegal narcotics and the traffickers responsible for endangering the lives of New Yorkers,” added NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban .
“At the forefront of our public safety mission is holding accountable all those who demonstrate the depravity of selling this deadly poison on the streets.”