A New Jersey man was detained after officials confiscated approximately 266 kilograms (more than 580 pounds) of cocaine in a huge drug bust. The drugs have an estimated street value of $10 million.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference on Friday, August 28, that this was the “NYPD’s largest cocaine seizure in at least a decade.”
At 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, investigators discovered 12 brown cardboard boxes inside a van and seven more on the ground beside it, Tisch said during the press conference. A K-9 alerted officials to the presence of narcotics.
Nelson Salcedo, 35, of Englewood, New Jersey, was allegedly caught moving boxes into a van at a self-storage facility in Long Island City.
“Think about the scale of what was intercepted here,” Tisch replied. “More than a quarter of a metric ton of cocaine is sitting in cartons, ready to be distributed through an illegal network. This is a massive amount of narcotics that will never be broken down, packaged, sold, or distributed in our communities.
Officials said the medicines were most likely combined with other narcotics, including the lethal fentanyl, before being sold.
Tisch claimed the seizure was the product of a months-long inquiry.
According to officials, Salcedo faces first- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance charges.
He was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this week. It is unclear whether he has entered a plea or hired counsel to speak on his behalf.
Two more guys have been arrested in connection with the cocaine seizure, ABC 7 said.
The investigation is underway.
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