Narcotics officers raided a Flushing home on Saturday and cuffed three people after recovering more than $100,000 in marijuana along with stashes of opioids and cash, it was reported.
Law enforcement sources said the NYPD Queens North Narcotics Squad executed a court-ordered search of a home on 163rd Street near Laburnum Avenue at 1 p.m. on June 1 as a result of an ongoing investigation.
The night before, according to the criminal complaint provided by the Queens District Attorney’s office, narcotics officers staked out the location and observed numerous individuals — including John Lao, 51, of Bay Club Drive in Bayside — transferring bags between the home and several vehicles that drove away. Officers had stopped those vehicles at other locations around Queens and found that the bags contained marijuana.
At 9:30 p.m. on May 31, the criminal complaint noted, a police officer approached Lao as he exited the 163rd Street home and placed him under arrest. While doing so, the cop noticed through an open front doorway several vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana in plain sight inside the home.
This prompted the NYPD Queens North Narcotics Squad to seek and obtain the search warrant executed the following day.
While searching the premises, cops found a “large quantity” of marijuana, contained within large, vacuum-sealed packs, and Oxycodone pills along with $37,000 in cash.
The criminal complaint noted that officers found 40 clear plastic vacuum-sealed bags inside of the living room and five similar bags of pot in the basement. In all, 43 pounds of marijuana, with a street value in excess of $100,000, were recovered during the raid.
Cops also found inside methamphetamines inside the kitchen cabinets and a bag of Oxycodone pills in a television stand. They also recovered $37,080 in cash hidden under a couch, the criminal complaint noted.
Two other people were arrested in connection with the June 1 raid: Jinda Zhang, 31, of Rowland, California; John Lao, 51, of Bay Club Drive in Bayside; and Ling Tsang, 56, of Galloway, New Jersey.
All three have been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of marijuana.
The suspects appeared in Queens Criminal Court later on June 1 for arraignment. Bail was set for Lao at $50,000, while Zhang and Tsang were each ordered held on $30,000 bond or $15,000 cash bail. They are set to return to court on June 27.
The 109th Precinct took to Twitter on June 1 to post a picture of the seized weed and thank the NYPD Queens North Narcotics team for its work.
