Image courtesy of the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP) for the City of New York announced on Wednesday, July 20, that a Bronx man has been charged as a major trafficker following an investigation that uncovered a large-scale drug stash house at 910 Sheridan Avenue in an area just northwest of Melrose.
The residential apartment building is adjacent to the Bronx Family-Criminal Courthouse. Over $3 million dollars in drugs, including more than 40 pounds of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, and approximately 1,000 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, were seized along with two guns and over $320,000 cash, according to law enforcement authorities.
Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, Susan A. Gibson, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Jersey division, and New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell announced the charges against defendant, Dujuan Soto, 56, from The Bronx, in conjunction with a scheduled arraignment before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Steven M. Statsinger.
“The volume and variety of drugs, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and two firearms recovered, signals that this was a fully operational illegal drug packaging and distribution center,” Brennan said. “It is hard to imagine a more audacious location than a building adjacent to the Bronx Family-Criminal Courthouse to set up a storehouse for deadly drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine and the counterfeit pills that are saturating the black market in our city.”
Image courtesy of the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
The indictment, filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP), included charges of operating as a major trafficker, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first, second, and third degrees, and criminal possession of a firearm.
SOTO was arrested on March 29, 2022, following a short-term investigation by the DEA New Jersey division, Enforcement Group 2, and the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Narcotics Borough Queens North.
On the day of the arrest, agents and officers were conducting surveillance outside 910 Sheridan Avenue and observed Soto leave the building at approximately 9:45 a.m. carrying a blue bag that appeared to contain a rectangular object. Agents and officers stopped him after he entered a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in front of 190 East 162nd Street. They obtained court-authorization to search the vehicle and Soto’s home at 910 Sheridan Avenue, Apt. K.
At approximately 3:25 p.m. on that day, agents and officers searched the jeep and discovered the blue bag held a U.S. Postal Service package with approximately $216,500 in alleged drug proceeds inside. A dollar figure was written on the box.
During the search of Soto’s home, agents and officers recovered over 8 kilograms of fentanyl (approximately 18 pounds) and over 3 kilograms of cocaine (nearly 8 pounds) from inside a locked closet in Soto’s bedroom. Some of the narcotics were imprinted with a Mercedes symbol.
The closet also contained approximately 15 pounds of methamphetamine, packaged inside freezer bags, and over 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone and alprazolam pills alleged to contain fentanyl, as well as multiple twists containing fentanyl and cocaine.
Image courtesy of the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
Underneath Soto’s bed, agents and officers recovered two loaded 9mm pistols with additional ammunition. Agents and officers also seized over $107,100 in cash, a money counter, digital scales, a vacuum sealer and two kilo presses used in packaging narcotics from the apartment.
Reacting to the announcement, Gibson said many lives were saved as the result of the significant drug seizure, considering that only two milligrams of fentanyl has the potential to cause a fatal overdose or poisoning. “The criminals involved in trafficking these drugs are only concerned with their own financial gain, and they do not consider the pain and misery associated with what they are doing,” she said. “The DEA and our law enforcement partners are committed to pursuing these individuals to bring them to justice.”
Meanwhile, Brennan thanked Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and commended the work of SNP’s special investigations bureau, DEA New Jersey Division and the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Queens North.
For her part, Clark said, “We are grateful to have such great law enforcement partners with special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget Brennan, the NYPD and DEA, to continue to stem the tide of deadly drugs coming into our city. Fentanyl and methamphetamine are particularly destructive to lives and communities. This is one more effort to try to save our communities from the ravages of these drugs.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, methamphetamine is a stimulant drug that is chemically similar to amphetamine (a drug used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy). People can take methamphetamine by smoking, swallowing, snorting, or injecting the drug.
Sewell said by dismantling such violent enterprises, and by holding accountable anyone who pushes “poison” on the City’s streets, investigators were making neighborhoods safer. “I commend everyone involved from the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Queens North, the DEA’s New Jersey Division, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York, and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for their collaboration and hard work throughout this important case,” she said.
Norwood News previously reported on the $7M drug takedown in the borough in 2019 of a drug-trafficking operation that had links to the Sinaloa cartel.
Image courtesy of the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
Soto has been charged with operating as a major trafficker, one count of first degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of 2nd degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and two counts of criminal possession of a firearm,
A person charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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