Million-Dollar Bust At Rich. Hill Apartments
Federal agents seized over $20 million in heroin from an alleged processing facility at a Richmond Hill apartment during a raid last week, it was announced.
Approximately 39 kilograms (equal to 86 lbs.) of the narcotic, along with a host of devices and tools used to process the drug for illegal sale on the street, were found inside a first-floor apartment on 122nd Street between Jamaica and Hillside avenues.
The operation-which was reportedly carried out by the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force last Wednesday, Sept. 19, into the following day-led to the arrest of 44-year-old Jose Santiago Diaz of Manhattan, an alleged worker at the site.
According to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor of New York, Diaz was found to be an illegal alien who was previously deported to the Dominican Republic. He was booked on charges of first- and thirddegree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.
“We seized a very large quantity of heroin high in the distribution chain,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, who announced the charges last Thursday, Sept. 20 along with DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Wilbert L. Plummer, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations James T. Hayes Jr.
“This would have ended up as millions of user-ready packets on the streets of our city,” Brennan added.
“Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in opiate abuse within the New York area,” Plummer said. “This has been a great concern to law enforcement and our community. These arrests demonstrate that
