What to Know
- Three men are facing charges for taking part in a drug trafficking scheme that would have brought about a ton of cocaine to New York streets, authorities said. The bust marks the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in over a decade.
- Jorge Aponte-Guzman, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez, who were initially arrested Sept. 29, were indicted Monday for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy in which nearly a ton of drugs were hidden in metal lawn rollers, according to authorities
- “A multi-million dollar storm of cocaine was seized before it could wreak havoc in the Northeast. Over one ton of cocaine was seized, making it the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in over a decade," DEA Special Agent in Charge Donovan said in a statement.
Three men are facing charges for taking part in a drug trafficking scheme that would have brought about a ton of cocaine to New York streets, authorities said. The bust marks the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in over a decade.
Jorge Aponte-Guzman, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez, who were initially arrested Sept. 29, were indicted Monday for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy in which nearly a ton of drugs were hidden in metal lawn rollers, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Ray Donovan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams and Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety Thomas Gleason jointly announced Tuesday.
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 kilograms of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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Attorney information for the accused was not immediately known.
According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed Monday in Manhattan federal court, on or about Sept. 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 about 460 kilograms of cocaine packaged inside 10 large metal lawn rollers. Records in connection to the shipment of the lawn rollers show that they were allegedly shipped from Puerto Rico to New Jersey, with a consignee in the Bronx, New York.
The next day, according to court documents, DEA agents seized a similar shipment of 10 large metal lawn rollers from the loading dock that Aponte-Guzman had visited the previous day. In the second shipment, agents found roughly 460 kilograms of cocaine.
News
“A multi-million dollar storm of cocaine was seized before it could wreak havoc in the Northeast. Over one ton of cocaine was seized, making it the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in over a decade," DEA Special Agent in Charge Donovan said in a statement. "This seizure signifies a shift in the illegal drug landscape in New York with cocaine seizures rising 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 federal and local law enforcement partners in the DEA Westchester Task Force. The tremendous work and dedication of the DEA and Task Force Investigators has interrupted a major drug distribution operation and prevented approximately one ton of dangerous, illegal narcotics from being distributed on the streets of our area."
