You are reading

Three Queens Residents Arrested in Woodside Drug Bust; $1.5 Million Worth of Heroin and Fentanyl Seized

The Queens men were busted during a drug bust at 51-66 48th St. (pictured) in Woodside Tuesday (GMaps)

Feb. 25, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

Three Queens residents were arrested in a major drug bust in Woodside Tuesday night — where authorities seized heroin and fentanyl worth around $1.5 million.

The suspects were nabbed by members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (NYDETF) during a raid of two apartments at 51-66 48th St. The apartments were being used as narcotics packaging mills, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Argeliz Nunez, 41, Pablo Rodriguez, 42, and Tiesha Cruz, 24 were arrested on drugs charges while trying to flee a basement apartment at the premises at around 9:35 p.m. Authorities recovered a loaded .22 caliber firearm from Rodriguez’s pants pocket.

According to the charges, authorities searched the basement apartment and discovered large quantities of drugs in powder form laid out on a table.

There were also a number of large zip lock bags containing additional drugs and thousands of glassine envelopes filled with suspected heroin and fentanyl. Additionally, authorities found two boxes as well as four large black bags filled with more narcotics.

Mail addressed to Rodriguez was found in this apartment, prosecutors said.

A group of Queens residents were arrested in a major drug bust in Maspeth Tuesday. Pictured are some of the drugs seized (Photo: Provided by Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor)

Authorities also searched a second-floor apartment at the premises and found five zip lock bags containing loose powder. There was also drug residue on a tabletop along with glassine envelopes stamped with brand names such as “Black Widow,” “Asylum” and “Gucci.”

Mail addressed to Nunez was found in this apartment, prosecutors said.

In total, authorities seized more than five kilograms of suspected heroin and fentanyl from the two apartments.

NYDETF also seized four vehicles allegedly associated with members of the drug trafficking organization. A 9mm handgun was recovered from a van.

Rodriguez and Cruz were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday while Nunez was arraigned Thursday, prosecutors said.

Guns seized during the drugs bust (Photo: Provided by Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor)

email the author: news@queenspost.com

One Comment

Click for Comments 

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Gunman wanted after nightclub shooting during early morning dispute at Jamaica hotel: NYPD

Police from the 103rd Precinct are looking for a gunman who opened fire inside a banquet hall in a hotel in Jamaica during the early morning hours of Sunday, March 16.

The suspect was involved in a dispute with an unidentified man inside a nightclub that operates inside the Hotel Liberty Inn & Suites-JFK at 144-20 Liberty Ave. just before 5 a.m. when he pulled out a firearm and discharged it multiple times, causing damage to the ceiling, police said. An NYPD spokesman could not say what the two men were arguing about before the gunfire erupted. No injuries were reported as a result of the shooting.

Flushing man arrested for impersonating ICE agent in visa fraud scheme: Feds

An alleged Flushing con artist was arrested by FBI agents in Brooklyn Friday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him for perpetrating a visa fraud scheme by pretending to be an ICE agent.

Tommy Aijie Da Silva Weng, 49, was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Friday afternoon on an indictment charging him with wire fraud, mail fraud, and impersonating a federal law enforcement agent in connection to a scam to defraud an unidentified Chinese citizen who resides in the United States by claiming he could help her in obtaining a green card through an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program if she invested $500,000 with him for a project to build hotels in California.