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A DEA task force has carried out the largest fentanyl raid in New York City history, blowing the previous record, broken just days earlier, from the water.
About 300,000 rainbow fentanyl pills and 22 pounds of the powdered drug worth a combined $9 million were seized from an apartment in the Bronx, city officials say.
A loaded Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine and a box of ammunition was also discovered in a closet in the apartment, prosecutors said in a press release.
Erickson Lorenzo, 30, and Jefry Rodriguez-Pichardo, 32, were arrested during Friday’s arrest. Police reportedly found Rodriguez-Pichardo hanging from a window sill on the third floor with no fire escape below him.
Other found items include 11 GPS devices and a hydraulic device to open doors.
Just last week, 15,000 multicolored fentanyl pills were discovered hidden in a LEGO box in Manhattan.
The fentanyl seized by the DEA Task Force last Friday – 300,000 rainbow pills and 22 pounds in powder form
A loaded Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol was found in the Bronx apartment where the drugs were recovered, along with an extensive magazine and a box of ammunition
The most recent arrest was led by the DEA’s Long Island Task Force in conjunction with local law enforcement and prosecutors.
Lorenzo and Rodriguez-Pichardo were both arrested around 6:10 am on Friday, October 7.
The two were reportedly in different bedrooms of the third-floor apartment and Rodriguez-Pichardo was hanging from the windowsill on the outside of the building when DEA agents discovered him.
The 22 pounds of powdered fentanyl was found between the kitchen, bedroom and living room and packed in clear plastic containers, prosecutors say.
The approximately 300,000 multicolored fentanyl pills were located in two cabinets in the hallway of the apartment, which was located at 4030 Bronx Boulevard, and were sorted by color in zip-lock bags.
The approximately 300,000 multicolored fentanyl pills were located in two cabinets in the hallway of the apartment, which was located at 4030 Bronx Boulevard, and were sorted by color in ziplock bags.
Frank Tarentino, the DEA agent in charge of the operation, said: “This seizure of toxic fentanyl has undoubtedly saved lives.
‘In today’s world, the risk of an overdose is dangerously high. There is no quality control on these fake pills and only two milligrams of fentanyl are needed to be lethal.’
The DEA has claimed that the rainbow-colored fentanyl pills are part of a marketing plan by Mexican drug cartels to encourage addiction among children and young adults.
They claim that the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel are responsible for the mass production of the pills.
Since August, these pills, which come in a variety of brightly colored shapes and sizes, have been recovered in 26 states in the US, the DEA claims.
Some of the pills in the Bronx apartment resembled pharmaceutical-grade drugs, such as Xanax and oxycodone, part of a drug trafficker’s plan to mislead consumers.
The 22 pounds of powdered fentanyl was found in the kitchen, bedroom and living room and packed in clear plastic containers, prosecutors say.
Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the US. Of the 107,622 deaths in the country in 2021, 66 percent were related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, CDC data shows.
Fatal overdoses are also on the rise. In 2021 they rose by almost 15% from the estimated 93,655 deaths in 2020.
This record-breaking arrest comes about a week after 15,000 pills were recovered in Manhattan on Sept. 28. They were hidden in plastic bags inside a LEGO box and carried in a tote bag by a woman on 10th Avenue, another prosecutor’s release said. .
New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement after that arrest: “Disguising fentanyl as candy — and hiding it in children’s toys — will never hide the fact that fentanyl is a deadly poison that harms our communities, our families and our city.” . .’
However, the same statement states that the drugs were only in the LEGO box “to deter the attention of the police”, an apparent contradiction.
On Sept. 28, the fentanyl pills were found in a LEGO box in Manhattan, the NY Special Narcotics Prosecutor said.
According to prosecutors’ publication last week, the fentanyl bust in the Bronx was led by the DEA’s Long Island District Office Task Force, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Hempstead Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.