What you should know
- Three men are facing charges for participating in a drug trafficking scheme that would have brought a ton of cocaine onto the streets of New York, according to authorities. The raid marks the largest seizure of cocaine destined for the streets of New York in more than a decade.
- Jorge Aponte-Guzmán, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya and Carlos Maisonet-López, who were initially arrested on September 29, were indicted on Monday for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy in which almost a ton of drugs was hidden in rollers. metal for grass, according to authorities.
- “This seizure means a change in the illegal drug landscape in New York with cocaine seizures increasing more than 150% in the last year,” said Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s New York Division, Ray Donovan. .
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NEW YORK – Three men are facing charges for participating in a drug trafficking scheme that would have brought a ton of cocaine onto the streets of New York, according to authorities. The raid marks the largest seizure of cocaine destined for the streets of New York in more than a decade.
Jorge Aponte-Guzmán, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya and Carlos Maisonet-López, who were initially arrested on September 29, were indicted on Monday for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy in which almost a ton of drugs was hidden in rollers. for lawn metal, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Ray Donovan, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, jointly announced Tuesday, Damian Williams, and Westchester County Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gleason.
Aponte-Guzman, 33, Agramonte-Minaya, 37, and Maisonet-Lopez, 32, are charged with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five kilos of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence. 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Information from the men’s lawyers was not immediately known.
According to indictment documentation released Monday in Manhattan federal court, around September 29, Aponte-Guzman traveled in a rental van from a loading dock in New Jersey to a residence in the state where he met Maisonet- Lopez and Agramonte-Minaya. Court documents allege that inside the rental van driven by Aponte-Guzman, law enforcement seized around 460 kilos of cocaine packaged inside 10 metal lawn rollers. Records relating to the shipment of the lawn rollers show that they allegedly came from Puerto Rico to New Jersey, with a consignee in The Bronx, New York.
The following day, according to court documents, DEA agents seized a similar shipment of 10 metal lawn rollers from the loading dock that Aponte-Guzmán had visited the day before. In the second shipment, agents found approximately 460 kilograms of cocaine.
“A multi-million dollar cocaine storm was seized before it could wreak havoc in the Northeast. More than a ton of cocaine was seized, making it the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in more than a decade, “DEA Special Agent in Charge Donovan said in a statement. “This seizure signifies a change in the landscape of illegal drugs in New York with cocaine seizures increasing more than 150% in the last year.”
Gleason shared similar sentiments, saying in a statement: “A seizure of this magnitude underscores the critical importance of working together with our local and federal law enforcement partners on the DEA Task Force in Westchester. The tremendous work and dedication of the DEA and Task Force Investigators has disrupted a major drug distribution operation and prevented approximately one ton of dangerous and illegal narcotics from being distributed on the streets of our area. “
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