An ongoing drug investigation in Jackson Heights led to the arrest of a man who was transporting $2 million worth of cocaine in candy wrappers on a bicycle.
On May 3, the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force witnessed Juan Pablo Martinez, 48, allegedly exiting from a home at 82nd Street between 32nd Avenue and Northern Boulevard carrying a black backpack. Martinez allegedly climbed onto a bicycle and pedaled to a Mobil gas station at 76-11 Northern Blvd.
He then dropped the backpack into the back seat of a grey Acura MDX and proceeded to pump gas for the driver. After Martinez finished pumping gas, he removed the backpack from the backseat.
Police approached Martinez and asked him about the bag. The defendant pulled out a bag of what appeared to be candy and allowed officers to inspect it. After further investigation, police found two kilograms of cocaine in the bag and arrested Martinez around 7:30 p.m.
Once Martinez was placed under arrest, police checked his residence on 82nd Street two additional kilograms of cocaine packaged as candy, one kilogram of powder cocaine, a kilo press, drug ledgers and $12,000 in cash.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the cocaine has a black market value of approximately $2 million.
Martinez was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“The sophisticated nature of this drug trafficking operation is evidenced by the method of concealment – cocaine wrapped in commercial-grade candy packaging,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan. “However, the traffickers met their match yesterday when our law enforcement partners in the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force acted on accurate intelligence and effectively disrupted a major supply chain.”
