DEA: 100 Pounds Of Heroin Found Stashed In Truck, Worth $14M
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Around 100 pounds of heroin was found stashed away in the bed of a truck driving in Elmhurst, Queens on Tuesday night, police said.
Members of the DEA's New York Drug Enforcement Task Force pulled over two pick-up trucks that were spotted in the vicinity of Northern Boulevard and 84th Street at around 8:45 p.m., police said. Both vehicles had North Carolina license plates and had circled the block several times, according to police.
"They stopped the two vehicles and made an inquiry," DEA Special Agent in Charge James Hunt told 1010 WINS' Al Jones. "The drivers gave conflicting statements."
The drivers, Peter Omar Garcia-Romero and Jose Guadenico Lantan-Vela, were taken into custody after a trained police dog indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle, police said.
The trucks were taken to DEA headquarters in Manhattan, where they were searched. According to authorities, compacted bags of heroin were found pressed into the axle and drive shaft of one of the vehicles.
"It was hidden in a drive shaft that belonged to another vehicle," Hunt said.
The drugs are estimated to be worth around $14 million on the black market, officials said.
"It's one of the biggest heroin seizes ever in the City of New York," Hunt said.
Garcia-Romero and Lantan-Vela, both of Guatemala, face charges of Conspiracy in the 2nd Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the first and third degree, officials said.
"It's one of the biggest heroin seizes ever in the City of New York," Hunt said.
They are expected to be arraigned Wednesday evening.