“Big drug busts” 

Federal drug agents in The Bronx confiscated more than $50 million worth of heroin in the largest drug bust ever recorded in NY State this past May. The raid also netted $2M cash and an arsenal of weapons. “To put it in perspective, this load was so large, it carried the potential of supplying a dose of heroin to every man, woman and child in New York City.” said G. Brennan, the city’s special narcotics prosecutor. The DEA Task Force said the 70 kilogram stash was set for delivery in the five boroughs, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The drugs and cash were recovered from a vehicle and apartment in the Fieldston section of The Bronx, not far from a school and a park. Alleged ring head Jose Hippie Mercede, 47, and Yenci Cruz Francisco, 19, were arrested.

A husband-and-wife are alleged to have illegally sold prescription drugs at pharmacies in Brooklyn and Queens that ended up on the streets. It is estimated that pharmacist Lilian Jakacki, 49, and her husband, Marcin, 35, distributed about 700,000 oxycodone pills worth as much as $15M. Their pharmacies, Chopin Chemists, were located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and in Glendale and were raided in late October.

In early October at around 1:30 a.m. on Ireland Street between 51st Avenue and Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, DEA agents busted a group of men unloading a large quantity of marijuana. They were allegedly caught transferring cardboard boxes from a tractor trailer into a small U-Haul truck and a van. The strong marijuana odor was noticed by the agents who then searched the vehicle and found the more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana in the back. Between $200K and $300K in bundled cash was also seized in the operation.