Two men have been charged in connection with the seizure of around 300,000 fentanyl pills, in assorted colors, and another 20 pounds (10 kilos) of fentanyl in powdered form from a drug stash location in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, according to Bridget G. Brennan, special narcotics prosecutor at the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York.

 

Prosecution officials said the drug stash location, at 4030 Bronx Boulevard, an apartment situated adjacent to the Bronx River Parkway, also contained a Tec-9 semi-automatic assault weapon, a hydraulic door opener, and 11 GPS devices. Some of the fentanyl pills discovered at the location resembled pharmaceutical drugs, including oxycodone and Xanax.

 

Prosecution officials said the size of the major cache of candy-colored fentanyl eclipses that of another “rainbow fentanyl” seizure announced in New York last week. They said it further illustrates drug traffickers’ latest marketing tactics to attract the public while deceiving them about the potentially lethal contents of pills sold on the street.

 

Brennan, Frank A. Tarentino III, special agent in charge of the New York division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA), Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly and Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced the arrests, which occurred on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.

 

Erikson Lorenzo and Jefrey Rodriguez-Pichardo were scheduled to appear on Oct. 12 in Manhattan Criminal Court, Part N, to face charges filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, officials said.

“This investigation uncovered a trove of dangerous ‘rainbow fentanyl’ pills worth up to $6 million on the street, plus an estimated $3 million in powdered fentanyl,” said Brennan. “The accused traffickers kept an assault weapon on hand and set up their stash house in a residential building near a highway, with easy access into and out of New York City. Fentanyl pills are masquerading in many different forms, and our city is flooded with them. Any street drug, whether it looks like a legitimate pharmaceutical or like candy, may be fentanyl, and it may be lethal.”

 

For his part, Tarentino said, “There is no question this seizure of poisonous fentanyl saved lives.” He added, “Hundreds of thousands of lethal pills were lying in wait in a Bronx apartment to be unleashed onto our streets. In today’s world, the potential to overdose is dangerously high. There is no quality control in these fake pills and it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to be lethal.”

He continued, “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to keep these deadly drugs and the associated violence off of our streets and away from our most vulnerable. These drug traffickers are brazen, but they will be held accountable. I commend the members of our DEA Long Island District Office, and the NYC Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for their hard work on this investigation.”

 

Meanwhile, Clark said she was grateful to those at Brennan’s office and at the DEA, who she called her partners in the battle against fentanyl distribution, for intercepting what she described as a huge amount of the toxic drug. “Creating these rainbow-colored pills out of a deadly drug – that is taking so many lives in the Bronx and around the city – is yet another dark marketing tool used by drug traffickers,” Clark said.

 

According to prosecution officials, Lorenzo and Rodriguez-Pichardo were arrested at approximately 6:10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, as members of DEA’s Long Island district office task force conducted a court-authorized search of 4030 Bronx Boulevard, Apt. 3G. Lorenzo was allegedly inside one bedroom of the third-floor apartment, while Rodriguez-Pichardo was allegedly in another bedroom hanging out of a window sill with no fire escape.

The fentanyl in the apartment took a wide array of forms and was contained in various types of packaging, officials said. Approximately 10 kilograms (over 22 pounds) of fentanyl in powdered form, wrapped in clear plastic packaging, was inside the kitchen, the living room and the bedroom where Lorenzo was allegedly found.

 

The roughly 300,000 multicolored fentanyl pills were allegedly inside two hallway closets and in Lorenzo’s room. The majority of the pills were sorted by color and contained in large zip lock bags. Some of the pills were allegedly pressed to resemble legitimate oxycodone and Xanax. One large black garbage bag allegedly held up to 100,000 pills in assorted colors and shapes all mixed together.

 

A loaded Tec-9 semi-automatic assault weapon, an extended magazine, and a box of ammunition were also allegedly found in a hallway closet. Other items allegedly found in the apartment included three scales, 11 global positioning devices, and a hydraulic door-opening device.

 

The ongoing investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Long Island district office task force, which consists of agents and investigators from the DEA, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Hempstead Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s investigators unit assisted in the investigation.

 

DEA laboratory analysis of the narcotics seized is pending, officials said. Preliminary testing indicated the presence of fentanyl, according to authorities.

Lorenzo and Rodriguez-Pichardo were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday, Oct. 8. Bail for each man was set at $500,000 cash/$1 million bond/$1 million partially secured bond, prosecution officials said. They were required to surrender their passports.

 

A criminal complaint charges both men with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Brennan thanked Clark and commended her office’s special investigations bureau and investigators unit, the DEA New York Division and the DEA’s Long Island district office task force, including the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Hempstead Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. She also thanked the NYPD’s 46^th Precinct’s anti-crime team for assisting in the investigation.

 

Norwood News recently reported on a successful overdose prevention training event that took place in St. James Park.