Feds: Man hauled more than 30 pounds of fentanyl through NYC subway
NEW YORK - Investigators say they've uncovered yet another drug mill in the Bronx, again involving fentanyl.
This one was located less than a mile away from the day care where several children were exposed to fentanyl, causing the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Detectives said Juan Gabriel Herrera Vargas rode on the subway Tuesday with a suitcase full of fentanyl. He got off at Kingsbridge Road and started walking toward an apartment, but investigators stopped him on the way.
The DEA says agents seized more than 40 pounds of fentanyl, much of it in a suitcase which officials say Herrera Vargas left behind when he took off running from investigators.
Later that night, the DEA says agents saw him leave an apartment in this building at Kingsbridge Road and Heath Avenue with another suitcase.
They arrested Herrera Vargas, and said they found even more drugs in that bag.
"It's scary," Brenda Wooton said.
Wooton goes to the building every week to take care of an elderly friend.
"There's kids here. There's elderly here. I'm here. So, I don't know, it's dangerous. I don't know who these people are, and I get on the elevator with them."
No one answered the door at the apartment Thursday, but the DEA said when investigators searched it Tuesday night, they found more fentanyl and packaging materials just blocks from the day care where four children were exposed to fentanyl earlier this month.
It's a heartbreaking reminder of the prevalence of an opioid that the DEA says is 50 times more potent than heroin.
The New York City Special Narcotics prosecutor is charging Herrera Vargas with operating as a major trafficker, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and criminally using drug paraphernalia.
The drugs had an estimated street value of $1.5 million.
"The public outcry after the poisoning death of a toddler was not enough to stop a drug mill from operating just six blocks away from that day care," DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said. "Herrera Vargas took danger one step further and wheeled over 40 pounds of fentanyl around the city and on the subway with no regard to public safety."
"The defendant is charged with transporting almost 30 pounds of fentanyl bricks in a rolling suitcase on a subway, through a subway station, and on the sidewalks of a busy Bronx neighborhood," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said. We
"Once again, a large supply of fentanyl has been found in the Bronx. For years, our community has been a hub for fentanyl distribution and has suffered so many deaths. The catastrophic loss of one-year-old Nicholas Dominici is the bleakest reminder that we must be relentless in removing drug traffickers from our city," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
