Law enforcement officials announced Friday the seizure of approximately 580 pounds of cocaine from a storage unit in Long Island City, Queens. The estimated street value of the drugs is $10 million, marking it as the largest cocaine seizure by the New York City Police Department in at least a decade and the largest for the special narcotics prosecutor's office in over two decades.
Nelson Salcedo, 35, of Englewood, New Jersey, was arrested on Wednesday while allegedly attempting to move the cocaine. According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the seizure is tied to a broad drug trafficking scheme with connections across the country.
Investigators were alerted to Salcedo's activities through surveillance of other suspected traffickers moving drugs between New Jersey and Upper Manhattan. The Drug Enforcement Administration had previously found $170,000 in cash, a firearm, and 33 pounds of cocaine in Fort Lee and began tracking Salcedo on August 12.
Prosecutors stated that Salcedo allegedly made deliveries from the Public Storage facility on August 12 and August 19. He was apprehended on August 26 as he was loading his Nissan van, registered to an elevator repair company, with 12 boxes. An additional seven boxes were found on the ground near the vehicle. In total, 230 brick-shaped packages containing suspected cocaine were recovered.
Field testing has confirmed the substance is cocaine, with NYPD lab analysis pending. Officials indicated that the investigation traces back to a cartel, and the bricks appear to be pure.
“Think about the scale of what was intercepted here: more than a quarter of a metric ton of cocaine sitting in boxes and ready to move through an illegal distribution network. That is an enormous quantity of narcotics that will never be broken down, that will never be packaged, sold or distributed in our neighborhood,” Tisch said during a press conference.
Salcedo has been arraigned in Manhattan criminal court on charges of first- and second-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance. He is one of three individuals arrested in connection with the operation so far, though the recipient of the alleged deliveries has not yet been apprehended.