NYPD, DA Melinda Katz say $11 million in drugs seized at abandoned home in Queens
NEW YORK -- The takedown of a massive drug and weapons operations in Queens was thanks to an eagle-eyed contractor brought in to work on a house that police say was being used as a secret lab and storage space for contraband worth millions of dollars.
Officials said $11 million is the estimated street value of the drugs that were seen on an evidence table on Wednesday and linked by NYPD investigators and the Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to a 44-year-old alleged to have used an abandoned home on 88th Road in Bellerose as a base of operations.
"He was in a house he was not authorized to be in and he was manufacturing drugs to be sold on the street," Katz said. "He didn't have possession of the house so we had to prove that he's the one."
Investigators said a contractor hired to fix up the abandoned house found the stash.
"As you can see, one simple phone call and we're able to recover all this contraband -- heroin, cocaine, fentanyl," said Igor Pinkhasov, commanding officer of the NYPD's 105th Precinct.
Police said they also recovered loaded guns, including five semi-automatic ghost guns, plus ghost gun kits and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Starting in May, investigators say they gathered evidence, including several images that led up to the man's arrest Friday.
"You can see on the surveillance, we have him under surveillance, before we get we there (he) removed two packages -- one of them being a cooler, the second one we believe was a suitcase," Pinkhasov said.
Investigators said it was a big operation, but a low-key one because the one suspect was coming in and out, adding the manufacturing was at the site, but not the sales, That's why some of the neighbors living closest to the house said they did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
"It's terrible for me and my family that my son every day plays outside," Yvonne Flores said.
"Very nerve-racking, with the guns and the drugs," Dianne Assip said.
If convicted, the defendant faces 25 years to life in prison.
