Members of the NYPD, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were seen raiding a two-family home at 2337 Beaumont Avenue in the Belmont section of The Bronx on Thursday, Oct. 5, where four people were later taken into custody. The raid was carried out steps away from the back of a fenced off area where children played at Belmont Community Day Care Center, located at 2340 Cambreleng Avenue.

Reacting to the seizure and arrests, Williams said, “Last night, while conducting a court-authorized search of a residence in The Bronx, law enforcement made one of the largest-ever seizures of fentanyl in New York City’s history; apparently more than 50 pounds of the poisonous drug.” He added, “Now, four defendants are in federal custody for allegedly operating a pill mill. The thought of the potential damage this stunning amount of fentanyl could have inflicted on New Yorkers is terrifying. I express deep gratitude to our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this office for their continued vigilance in keeping fentanyl off of our streets.”

As alleged in the complaint filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, since at least in or about September 2023, members of law enforcement have been investigating a network of drug traffickers who, among other things, appear to have converted an apartment in a two-family house in a residential neighborhood in The Bronx to be utilized for the purpose of packaging large quantities of fentanyl into portions for wholesale distribution.

In particular, according to the complaint, the traffickers used the apartment (the “fentanyl mill”) to store kilogram-quantities of fentanyl, to combine the fentanyl with other fillers, use dyes to color the combined powders, and use large industrial-scale pill presses to create hundreds of thousands of deadly fentanyl pills at a time.

On or about Oct. 5, according to law enforcement officials, members of law enforcement searched the fentanyl mill and found all four defendants inside. They said that during their search, investigators found, among other things, around 24 kilograms of suspected fentanyl in powder form, comprising around 14 kilograms of compressed powder in brick-shapes which members of law enforcement believe to contain  fentanyl, and around 10 kilograms of loose powder which members of law enforcement also believe to contain fentanyl, as well as over 200,000 suspected fentanyl pills, already packaged and ready for distribution to other traffickers for further sale.

They said some of the pills appear to have been manufactured to mimic prescription drugs, and others were pressed into colorful shapes to resemble party drugs such as ecstasy.

They said members of law enforcement also found three commercial pill presses and another disassembled pill press; one kilogram press; and various manufacturing and distribution paraphernalia including blenders, dyes, and jars of calcium citrate, that are used in connection with pressing narcotics into pill form and packaging narcotics for further distribution, as well as what appear to be industrial-grade protective face masks. 

Norwood News spoke to a Beaumont Avenue resident and father who was walking his young girl to preschool on Friday morning, Oct. 6, about the people who had lived at 2337 Beaumont Avenue. “I don’t know the people and I’ve never seen them before,” the resident said. “The guys, they came out with, I’d never seen them,” he said, adding that there were  four arrested.”

Asked what time the raid took place, the resident said, “I think at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon.” Asked for his thoughts on a drug ring being busted on his local block, he said, “No, not really. Just another day in New York City, that’s what we got going on.”

Asked if he was surprised by it, he said, “Definitely, because it’s on the news all the time with these sort of people, and now another one near another daycare.” We asked if the block was generally quiet. The resident replied, “No, it’s not a quiet area; there’s a lot of drugs out here.”

Tarantino said the fentanyl pill mill was one of the largest seen in New York City. “The DEA recently announced that 7 out of 10 pills tested by the DEA laboratories across the county contain a lethal dose of fentanyl,” he said. “Allegedly, this industrial pill mill, located in the heart of The Bronx, had enough lethal fentanyl to dispense well over a million lethal doses. Fentanyl pills are being manufactured in these clandestine pill mills right here, in our neighborhoods, and unleashed into our communities.”

He added, “They are then marketed and sold to many who have no idea the pills, many of which are purposefully made to look like other prescription or party drugs, contain fentanyl. With the growing increase of fentanyl-related poisonings, this toxic operation is unacceptable and law enforcement, at all levels, is vigilantly tracking down drug trafficking organizations responsible for bringing the most harm to our communities.”

Williams praised what he described as the outstanding investigative work of the El Dorado task force international narcotics and money laundering unit, which is comprised of law enforcement officers from the DEA, HSI, and the NYPD, as well as the work of the New York State Police and the United States Postal Service. He also thanked the New York State Police contaminated response team and the DEA Chemist Team for their processing of the scene.

The case is being handled by the Office’s narcotics unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Maggie Lynaugh is in charge of the prosecution. A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.