More than 110 pounds of crystal meth was recovered from a vehicle during a stop in lower Manhattan in a $600,000 bust that is being called one of the biggest in New York history, according to prosecutors.
The DEA’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (NYDETF) was conducting surveillance around 9 a.m. Monday and stopped a black Chevrolet Tahoe with Pennsylvania license plates near West Street and Battery Place. In the back seat of the SUV, agents and officers spotted two large black duffel bags in the rear seat, prosecutors said.
The driver and the passenger, Fernando Penaloza-Reyes and Raul Cruz-Torres, were detained as they got a search warrant. Hours later, law enforcement took the bags out and found about 50 vacuum sealed packages of a white rocky substance, which law enforcement believed to be crystal meth.
In all, the weight of the packages was just over 110 pounds with a street value of more than a half-million dollars, making it one of the largest meth seizures by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. DEA lab analysis results of the contents of the packages was still pending.
The two men, both from Reading, Pennsylvania, were charged with possession of a controlled substance and were arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
"Methamphetamine, sometimes mixed with fentanyl, is claiming an increasing number of lives in our state and nation. Preventing more than 100 pounds of the drug from reaching our streets will save precious lives and prevent vulnerable communities from experiencing its destructive impact," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.
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