$1.5M Fentanyl Mill Busted In Central Queens, Prosecutors Say

MASPETH, QUEENS — Agents busted into a Maspeth basement apartment Tuesday night and found $1.5 million worth of heroin and fentanyl labeled “Black Widow,” “Asylum” and “Gucci," prosecutors announced Thursday.

Now three people — Argeliz Nunez, 41, Pablo Rodriguez, 42, and Tiesha Cruz, 24 — stand accused of running a large-scale drug operation out of the apartment complex on 48th and 47th streets, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor said.

The trio tried to run when agents burst in about 9:35 p.m., but were ultimately caught and arrested on drug charges, plus a weapons charge for Rodriguez who had a loaded gun in the pocket of his pants, prosecutors said.

New York Drug Enforcement Task Force investigators found drugs in gallon-sized ziplock bags, thousands of glassine envelopes, two brick-shaped boxes a cooler bag, according to prosecutors.

In an apartment two floors above, agents discovered a bedroom table topped with five ziplock bags of narcotics and glassine envelopes stamped with brand names, officials said in a press release.

There was more than five kilograms of suspected heroin/fentanyl in from the two apartments, according to prosecutors.

Four cars allegedly connected to the drug trafficking operation were seized along with the .22 caliber firearm, according to prosecutors.

Rodriguez and Cruz were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday night, and Nunez is still awaiting arraignment, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor said Thursday.