$10M In Heroin & Fentanyl Seized, Kingpins Arrested: Prosecutors

NEW YORK CITY -- A Bronx bust uncovered $10 million worth of heroin and fentanyl and could land five accused drug kingpins behind bars, officials said.

Juan Silva Santos, 39, and three other members of a Mexico-based narcotics gang were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday on charges of conspiracy, operating as a major trafficker and criminal drug possession charges, according to New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.

“The defendants trafficked in multi-million dollar quantities of potentially lethal opioids," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan. “The types of narcotics seized in this case have fueled New York City’s epidemic of overdose fatalities."

Charges were filed after an Oct. 25 raid of two homes in The Bronx and Yonkers uncovered nearly 70 pounds of heroin and fentanyl, $28,000 in cash and a press that stamped the image of a scorpion onto the packaged drugs, prosecutors said.

Investigators had spent weeks tailing Santos, Ezequiel Then, 30, Candido De Jesus, 61, and Wilton Paulino, 22, as they travelled between John F. Kennedy airport, a luxury Yonkers apartment at 701 Ridge Hill Boulevard and another home on Underhill Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, said prosecutors.

The raid occurred one day after De Jesus was seen dumping trash bags stuffed with drug paraphernalia and packing on the curb, prosecutors said.

In The Bronx, law enforcement officials found Then stuffing fentanyl into bags with a heat sealer, a secret compartment in a closet wall packed with heroin and more fentanyl, another stash underneath a mattress and a stamp press to brand the drugs with a scorpion logo, said prosecutors.

In Yonkers, investigators found about $28,000 cash and 14 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin inside a suitcase, prosecutors said.

De Jesus pleaded not guilty to criminal possession and conspiracy charges in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 24, said prosecutors.

A fifth alleged accomplice, Jesus Vega Guzman, 35, was arrested after investigators learned he commonly travelled back and forth between JFK and Mexico, where he prosecutors say he runs a narcotics supply organization.

“This highly organized trafficking network based their operations in both the Bronx and Yonkers in order to maximize their reach into surrounding counties,” stated Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan.

“By dismantling this organization, we shut down a major supplier of the deadliest drugs on the streets today: heroin and fentanyl.”

Photo courtesy of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force