Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz showed a “fraction” of the guns and drugs seized from an abandoned house in Bellerose.
Photo by Iryna Shkurhan
A Jamaica man was indicted as a major trafficker after illicit drugs, including fentanyl, estimated at over $10 million in street value were seized from an abandoned house in Bellerose.
The stash was discovered by a contractor who arrived at the boarded up single family home on 88th Road on May 30 following the sale of the property. After stumbling upon large quantities of illicit narcotics and guns out in the open, he proceeded to call 911 and take pictures of the significant stockpile before leaving to relay his findings to the NYPD.
“[Fentanyl] is an extremely dangerous drug and the fact that it’s happening on such a quiet street with no indication of what was going on is very disturbing,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz at a Nov. 1 press conference, while displaying a “fraction” of what was seized, with the fentanyl sitting on the table double bagged.
Victor Rodriguez, 37, was arraigned Oct. 27 on a 112-count indictment that included three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, 26 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and 39 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
A dozen loaded guns, ranging from a revolver to semi-automatic pistols, and over 200 rounds of assorted ammunition were also seized during the search.
Authorities suspect that Rodriguez had been operating out of the house for the past two years. They say that the home had been empty for about five years.
Shortly after the contractor reported his finding to the 105th Precinct, Rodriquez was seen running to and from the property with two coolers in his hand. According to photos taken by the contractor, the coolers appeared to contain 15 kilos of a powdery white substance.
During a court-authorized search the next day, police…
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