A kilo of fentanyl was hidden on play mats at a Bronx daycare, leading to the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Nicholas Feliz Dominici, who had only been at Divino Nino daycare for a week, died Friday from fentanyl exposure and three other children became ill and were hospitalized, including one in critical condition.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner and her alleged accomplice Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, now face federal charges.
The two men were charged Tuesday in Manhattan federal court with one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
A brick of fentanyl, weighing one kilogram, was found on children’s play mats as well as a “pound press,” according to a federal criminal complaint.
A kilo of fentanyl was hidden on play mats at a Bronx daycare, leading to the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner and her alleged accomplice Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, now face federal charges.
Pictured: Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, 1, died Friday after ingesting fentanyl at a Bronx daycare.
Prosecutors said De Ventura and Brito, her husband’s cousin, “used the daycare’s facade to conceal their true business: a fentanyl drug manufacturing factory.”
The suspected drug duo allegedly cut up the drugs near the area where the children were napping.
De Ventura allegedly stood aside while her group cut the opioids. Some fentanyl particles were released into the air and the children were believed to have inhaled the deadly drug, sources said.
Authorities found a one-kilogram block of fentanyl in the same space occupied by the children, the federal complaint states.
“There, despite the daily presence of children, including infants, the defendants kept large quantities of fentanyl, including one kilogram of fentanyl stored on the children’s play mats,” stated an affidavit signed by the Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Kyle Harrell.
Brito’s room, which he rented for $200 a week, contained equipment that suggested a large-scale drug operation, police said.
A “kilo press”, typically used to recompress medication into powder form, was discovered and two other presses were found in the daycare.
They are “commonly used by narcotics traffickers in ‘factories’ or other locations where narcotics are broken down, combined with fillers or other narcotics, and divided into portions for sale,” according to the affidavit .
On Friday, before police arrived at the Morris Avenue apartment, De Ventura called several people, including her husband, before calling 911 to get help for the children.
Detectives said they also recovered video of the husband and others fleeing the daycare with bags of unknown contents in the initial confusion.
De Ventura and Brito stored large quantities of fentanyl “despite the daily presence of children, including infants,” the criminal complaint states.
A “kilo press”, typically used to recompress medication into powder form, was discovered and two other presses were found in the daycare.
Law enforcement sources believe the basement beneath the daycare where Brito lived was actually a drug front.
The two men were initially arrested Sunday evening on charges of murder, manslaughter and assault, and held without bail.
But they are now in federal custody and face life in prison if convicted.
Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the case “shocked the conscience of the city” during a news conference Tuesday.
A third suspect is still being sought. Police have launched a manhunt for De Ventura’s husband, believed to be the “ringleader” of the drug operation, officials said.
De Ventura’s attorney said she was unaware Brito was storing drugs in her daycare.
She opened the Bronx daycare earlier this year and passed a surprise inspection on September 6.
Divino Nino Daycare was registered with the city’s Department of Children and Family Services because it was considered a home-based business.
The daycare was registered to accommodate up to 8 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years, records show.
Feliz Dominici’s grieving parents, Zoila Dominici and Otoniel Feliz, said the daycare was recommended by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
The heartbroken couple, parents to four other children, were trying to come to terms with the unexpected and tragic death of their youngest child.
The boy’s grief-stricken mother told CBS News in Spanish: “Look what happened. If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken him.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said Monday that police found “one kilo of fentanyl in an area used for children to nap.”
He further explained that the fentanyl “was under a rug where the children were sleeping earlier.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Damian Williams spoke during Monday’s announcement of the new federal charges.
Frank A. Tarentino III (photo), special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York division covering New York State, spoke at a news conference Monday about fentanyl and the babies who were exposed to the deadly chemical at a daycare in the Bronx.
According to Kenny, “one grain, two grains of fentanyl can destroy an adult male, so even the residue from a small child would cause death. »
According to reports, no complaints have been filed against Divino Nino Daycare.
But some neighbors were concerned about what was happening behind the apartment doors. A longtime neighbor said she never saw children arrive or leave the residence.
“It was daycare for a year with no kids. For a year she had a daycare with no children, but people go there. But no babies? “, she told the New York Post.
She also revealed that De Ventura would not allow her own child to stay in the apartment where other children were kept.
“A daycare without children or men coming in and out. Yes, we knew something. We knew something was wrong there.
“We all said, ‘Drugs.’ How can you not know that?
She alleged that De Ventura’s daycare started getting busier two months ago when she started having a few children, including a baby two months ago and then two more children a few weeks before the tragedy.