Heroin Shortage Follows Record-Setting Bust In The Bronx This Week
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Just after a massive heroin bust in the Bronx this week, narcotics officers reported they have been facing a new problem on the streets.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, there were instant repercussions following the seizure of 150 pounds of heroin.
Heroin Shortage Follows Record-Setting Bust In The Bronx This Week
Over 70 kilograms of heroin, $2 million cash and a firearm were seized from a Chevy Suburban behind an apartment building in the Fieldstone section of the Bronx, near Horace Mann School, authorities said. It was the largest Drug Enforcement Administration heroin seizure in New York and the fourth largest seizure in the country.
The bust was described by the Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan as enough to supply a dose for every man, woman and child in New York.
Street dealers were clearly following the news.
"The most surprising thing was that the very next day in a completely unrelated investigation, we learned that the heroin dealer -- a very low-level dealer compared to the people we arrested last weekend -- a low level dealer was raising his prices, saying there's a shortage of heroin out there," Brennan said.
Prices went up before the shortage really hit, Cornell reported.
In the bust announced Tuesday, DEA Agents arrested Jose Mercedes and Yenci Cruz Francisco, both of the Bronx, in connection with the seizure.
Brennan said the alleged ring leader has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
Earlier this spring, cartel members allegedly traveled to the Bronx to oversee a delivery and took time to do some sightseeing in Times Square, Cornell reported.
It's estimated that the organization was receiving shipments of this size at least once a month, according to Brennan.
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