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Nov. 7, 2024 By Bill Parry
Two Long Island City men and a Long Islander were charged with criminal possession of cannabis after a search warrant uncovered more than 850 pounds of cannabis flower with a street value of more than $100,000 in a Long Island City apartment.
Garcia Rodriguez, 25, and Prieto Romero, 23, both of 48th Avenue in Long Island City, and Egas Nagua, 34, of Floyd Street in Brentwood, were arraigned Tuesday night in Queens Criminal Court.
According to the charges, police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City responded to a 911 call about an assault with a knife at an apartment on 50th Avenue in the Hunters Point section of LIC at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4.
An NYPD officer knocked on the apartment door and saw the three defendants inside. The officer asked if he could perform a wellness check and was allowed to enter the unit. Once inside, the officer saw multiple large clear plastic bags containing cannabis flowers on the floor of a bedroom. Multiple clear plastic bags with cannabis flowers were also on the floor of a second bedroom, next to several open suitcases.
The officers obtained a court-authorized search warrant and recovered numerous bags of cannabis flowers weighing more than 850 pounds.
“A call for a wellness check at a Long Island City apartment led police officers to the discovery and seizure of more than 850 pounds of marijuana,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Three defendants are now charged with felony possession of cannabis, and this investigation is ongoing.”
The three men were arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jerry Iannece, who ordered them to return to court on Jan. 16, 2025.
“Unregulated marijuana products pose a danger to our communities, and my office will aggressively prosecute those who bring them into our neighborhoods,” Katz said.
