Results tagged “cocaine”

A Bronx cop faces a life sentence for using his status as a police officer to help his friend run a cocaine ring. Officer Juan Acosta is accused of aiding his longtime buddy Yorick Rafael Corneil-Perez in distributing drugs by stealing cash from a rival drug courier while pretending to be on police business, providing tips about which streets would be lightly patrolled by officers, and transporting what he believed to be 22 pounds of cocaine from Long Island to the Bronx.

Narcotics investigators seized more than $800,000 and 61 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $1 million in a Williamsburg apartment yesterday. The drugs were hidden under the seat of a portable sauna, and officials say—wait, portable sauna?! Is that really a thing? Turns out yes, it is! It's also one of the last places anyone would want to "chill" while ripping rails, so the suspects probably figured nobody would ever think to look in there for cocaine. Oh well.

A 43-year-old man died yesterday after Long Island cops shot him twice with a Taser. Officers used the weapon on Darryl Bain, 43, after he locked himself and his 78-year-old mother — who had a restraining order against him — in her Coram home.

The woman who crashed a van full of foster children into oncoming traffic in Queens on Monday confessed to police that she smoked crack cocaine around 1 or 2 a.m., did heroin around 9 a.m., and drank one alcoholic beverage around noon that same day. Sheila Bethea, 45, also admitted to speeding, and told police she did not know 5-year-olds needed to be in car seats. (None of her passengers were even wearing seat belts.) Perhaps even more devastating is the revelation that the children were supposed to taken to their foster care appointment in a cab.

Add this to the list of the ways drugs are smuggled into the JFK Airport: WABC 7 reports that earlier this month, "A Worcester, MA resident apparently tried to stroll past U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers at JFK airport with nearly 7 pounds of cocaine in his shoes."

The two young women who were busted for scoring cocaine at Chelsea nightclubs and accused of reselling it throughout their FIT dorms look like they might have run into some good fortune due to some admitted sloppiness by the DA's office. Mickenzie Dippenworth and Christine Scafa turned down plea bargains of six months in jail for last November's coke bust. The Post reveals that investigators have admitted that they are missing $200 in "buy" money, transcripts of the contents of more than 15 text messages between the two women and the undercover cops who nailed them, and expense reports detailing how much buy money the undercovers put in their pockets. The pair have said that the cocaine sale was just the natural next step when meeting two undercover cops at the hotspot Home who claimed to be ultimate fighters and bragged about their penis sizes. The trial is set to begin this week.

After testing positive for cocaine use nine times while out on bail, former preschool director Andy Lewis has finally exhausted the patience of a Federal judge. Lewis, whose Brooklyn Children's Academy was shut down last year after parents discovered exposed wires, unpainted walls and noxious fumes in the building, is charged with stealing more than $500,000 in government funding intended for free meals for poor youths at his Better Brooklyn Community Center. But where, pray tell, could all that money have gone?! According to court papers from April obtained by the Daily News, Lewis blamed the test results on a cocaine-laced cigarette someone gave him. But Judge Kiyo Matsumoto wouldn't be fooled again, and said she felt "ridiculous" for giving Lewis so many chances. (His lawyer unsuccessfully argued that his client should remain free because he had passed nearly twice as many tests as he had failed.) When Judge Matsumoto told Lewis he would be incarcerated, the defendent reportedly cried, "Oh, my God, I can't go to jail! I beg of you! God Almighty! Please, your honor, reconsider!"

On Thursday night, the FBI raided six locations in Queens and on Long Island that the agency believes supplies drugs to street gangs on Long Island. Newsday reports, "The arrests were the first phase in a long-term operation aimed at breaking up gangs, such as the Bloods and the Crips, by eventually charging members with drug offenses that carry long-term prison sentences." An FBI agent explained that the suspects would use a code—which was originally developed by the Five-Percenters (the suspects were not Five-Percenters)—that substituted numbers with words: "In the code, the number three, for example, stood for the word 'understanding' and the number six for 'equality.' So when the suspects said 'understanding' and 'equality' together, they were saying a kilo of cocaine cost $36,000," according to the agent. Four people were arrested, all pleaded not guilty to drug distribution charges and all were held without bail.

Drug Enforcement Agency agents arrested two bounty hunters in Washington Heights last night, charging them with possession of over 6 pounds of cocaine (street value: $300,000). NY1 reports that the two suspects, Chris Morel and Rensy Adrover, were arrested after being spotted as they put on "ballistics vests and police tactical gear. Investigators say they also had a stun gun, a dagger, bullet proof vests and handcuffs." DEA Officer Wilbert Plummer surmised, "I think they were using it as a cover. This way it would be a little more safe for them to travel through the city with drugs in the car. They didn't have it in a trap or compartment. They had it out actually inside a bag in plain view. [If stopped by cops] They could be en route to somewhere and law enforcement would just believe they were other law enforcement agents driving off somewhere." Morel and Adrover work for a bail enforcement firm in the Bronx; they will be arraigned on drug possession charges, which could bring up to 24 years in prison.

The past couple months have seen no shortage of cocaine and food combos; there was the Bronx pizza parlor busted for offering blow on the menu, and at the beginning of March, Queens produce shoppers found bags of cocaine inside peppers purchased at an Ozone Park shop. Now it's come to light that at the same time that coke was found in the peppers, yet another Queens market was selling produce with white powder inside. An NYPD spokesman has not yet confirmed that it was cocaine, but on March 7th and 8th, police received several calls about little bags of powder found inside bitter melons purchased at a Richmond Hill grocery. Two dozen cops raided the produce store, Banana Country on Liberty Avenue, and cut open the melons, but nothing unusual was found inside. Owner Tae Hyun Kil assures the Times, "No problems with bitter melons since then." But when informed about the incident, one shopper seemed inspired: "Hey, that’s a good way to smuggle!"

After a ten-month investigation, NYPD narcotics officers busted John's Pizza & Heros on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx on Tuesday, charging six people with participating in cocaine trafficking at the restaurant. According to prosecutors, manager Benigno Burgos and his associates moved hundreds of thousands of dollars of drugs through the joint, with customers coming from as far as Connecticut to pick up their take-out orders, which were actually pizza boxes stuffed with up to $40,000 of cocaine at a time. The place also delivered. Of course, this story calls for some fun wisecracks, which DEA Special Agent-In-Charge John Gilbride has clearly been polishing. He tells the Post, ahem, "This gives a new meaning to the phrase 'slice and a Coke.' " On Tuesday cops also raided four nearby drug supply houses, finding nine kilos of cocaine, four handguns and approximately $20,000 in cash. They discovered the coke stash at Burgos's house hidden under a child's mattress, where no one was ever supposed to find it!

The undercover cops who set up the bust of two FIT students for selling them cocaine apparently knew the quickest way to the young women's hearts—they complimented their cleavage. That was one of several details offered by accused dealers Mickenzie Dippenworth and Christine Scafa in their defense that the sting was set up by a month-long seduction by the undercover officers "Chris" and "Jack" (they all met at a Chelsea club). The women also say that the cops bragged about being Ultimate Fighters and boasted of their penis size. On the night of the actual bust, the Post reports Dippenworth's lawyer's claim that: "at 1:30 a.m., one of the undercovers 'initiated a request for cocaine.' When Dippenworth gave him the little left of her stash, the undercover 'literally pushed $100 to the defendant and insisted that she take the money.'" The two young women are due back in court in a little under a month for the charges of selling a total of 11 grams of cocaine for $1,280.

A group of Hofstra students was arrested after they held up their dormitory drug dealer in order to seek revenge for receiving mediocre cocaine. 19-year-old area suburbanites Michael Smith and Timothy Gallo burst into Gregory Sable's room while another deal was taking place, pointed guns at him and made off with five grand in cash, $3,000 worth of marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine and two Coach watches. Sable tried to leave the illicit transaction out of his story when reporting the robbery, but police quickly coaxed the full details out of him. Cops picked up the pair of thieves along with their weapons (which turned out to be pellet guns) and also arrested their getaway driver, the female student buying coke during the heist as well as Sable. A police lieutenant told Newsday, "There's really no guarantee that comes with cocaine when you buy it." A couple of young women from FIT were picked up in a coke ring just a few months ago.

The TGI Friday's in the Financial District known for its uppers as much as its poppers has been reopened with an entire new staff after last week's drug bust. The Times checks in with the eatery where a bar maid tells them everyone was fired after the place was shut down following two men being arrested for openly selling pot and coke at the bar. One woman dining on mozzarella sticks was surprised to hear of the news and said, "He was selling it right here at the bar? Dag. I didn’t know it was that kind of place.” Friday's parent company, Riese Restaurants received a $50,000 fine for the bust where staff was accused of knowing about the dealings, an accusation the Times says is supported by the cramped quarters of the location. One patron at the bar seemed to think the incident gave the chain some character, telling the paper, “If some guy’s selling drugs at a bar—I don’t know, it doesn’t bother me. It’s actually kind of cool.”

At least three shoppers discovered an unexpected surprise inside peppers purchased at a Queens store last night: bags of cocaine! It's a helluva drug, but instead of firing up the hot tub and talking about their unfinished screenplays until dawn, the unnamed individuals notified the NYPD, who went through the Ozone Park shop with K-9 units. A police source tells the Post that the store owners didn't know they were pushing peppers with a party inside, and it's believed they were imported from South America. The strange incident brings back memories of the infamous cold cuts and coke ring the NYPD busted in 2007; of course in that scenario buyers were knowingly purchasing cocaine with their deli meats at bodegas around town.

Cops raided a TGI Friday's in the financial district on the day of its namesake and shut it down after discovering that the family eatery was striped with cocaine. Apparently the business plan at this franchise location included looking the other way as dealers at the bar lured in high rollers from nearby Wall Street institutions. The Post says that the bankers and traders would "spend their nights getting high after the market spent the day going low."

A trader for DRW Commodities on the 34th floor of 7 World Trade Center was having a late night partying at the company's offices when he was struck with a pyromaniac urge today. 24-year-old Ryan Brinkerhoff was arrested and charged with six misdemeanor counts and 12 felony counts, including arson, reckless endangerment and burglary after spraying flammable liquid on a door and some phones around the office around 3 a.m. When security cameras led Port Authority police to him, they found him inebriated and on cocaine and stopped him before he set the fluids off. A source told the Post, "He was having a party up there. He's going to wake up and be in deep shit." After being booked at the First Precinct, he laughed at photographers and asked, "Why are you guys taking my picture?"

The two FIT students arrested last month for dealing cocaine say that they were just hooking friends up, not really dealing the drug. Seniors Mickenzie Dippenworth and Christine Scafa pleaded not guilty in court yesterday to drug-sale charges. They were arrested after allegedly selling coke to two undercover cops they met at the Chelsea nightclub Home near their FIT dorms. But a statement in court yesterday fro Scafa stated, "The only time that she supplied cocaine to anyone else is her friends. She did not turn a profit and only did it to 'hook up' her friends." Scafa claims that she began using cocaine as a freshman with DIppenworth. As for Dippenworth, her alibi was "that she made $80 once from selling drugs and that was her first time." Cops say the pair sold them a little under $1300 in cocaine. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years. The two young women—along with their accused supplier Raymond Alameda—will be back in court in March.

The father of one of the two FIT students busted for dealing cocaine says that she's getting a bum rap. Mickenzie Dippenworth's father Charles tells the Post, "OK, yes, she did something wrong. Does that merit what has taken place? That's what my taxpayer dollars are going to? I really don't understand. There's a hell of a lot more problems." Dippenworth stands by his daughter who "has sworn to him ten times" that she only dealt to the undercover cop who led to her arrest and not to anyone else. His daughter had previously been on probation after police in her Maryland hometown responded to the fourth noise complaint made by neighbors and discovered a party with around 50 juveniles and young adults drinking while Dippenworth's parents were upstairs sleeping.

The FIT students who were giggly after being busted for running a coke ring in their dorm room were serious after appearing in court. The NY Post reports that Christine Scafa and Mickenzie DIppenworth "sulked out" of the courthouse. The DA's office said after initially selling coke to an undercover cop at the W. 27th Street club Home, the students (along with alleged dealer Raymond Alameda) "hawk[ed] 'zips,' or ounces, and 'eight balls,' or one-eighth ounces, of blow for up to $400" out of the women's dorm room, until "Scafa became suspicious of a new buyer, actually an undercover cop, and refused to give him the product, even though he forked over $100." A fellow student told the Daily News, "It's sad to hear people are selling coke here. I've had too many friends who've gone down because of it with ruined lives and squandered potential." Flashback: NYU's Pot Princess, who did eventually release a single.

As two young women were led out of FIT student housing in handcuffs last night after getting busted for running a coke ring, the only emotions revealed from their faces came from having a case of the giggles. When they spotted reporters out front of their West 31st Street dorms following the arrests of the two as well as their supplier on multiple counts of cocaine possession and sale, 22-year-old Christine Scafa laughed and said, "Oh my God, are you guys serious? We're not Plaxico Burress!" This triggered her 21-year-old partner in crime Mickenzie Dippenworth to zing back, "Well, I'm a Plaxico Burress fan." Like her fallen idol, Dippenworth was no stranger to the city club scene, where she originally sold cocaine to an undercover cop at nearby hotspot Home. That led to a series of undercover purchases as police gathered evidence of the two dealing to a number of fellow FIT students. The Post says that both were from "very good backgrounds:" Scafa ran in this year's NYC Marathon and Dippenworth was once a girl scout. UPDATE: FIT's president sent an email to the school community: "this situation appears to be an isolated incident and involves no others on campus."

During these times of economic downturn, and with cocaine prices on the rise, what's a drug dealer to do? The NY Post reports that NYC dealers have boosted their profits as they're "increasingly turning to crystal meth to peddle in its place." A DEA special agents tells the paper, "[Dealers] are trying to create a market. [We're] afraid of an epidemic similar to the crack epidemic of the '80s." The department has already taken in 14 kilos of meth this year, as compared to the 4 kilos confiscated during all of 2007.

Former TV producer Julie Horner Lankamp was found dead in her Gold Street apartment Tuesday with "her crying young daughter clutching her legs," as the Daily News sensationally puts it. Relatives say they hadn't spoken with Lankamp since Sunday and police don't know how long the two-year-old had been stranded with her mother's body, which had begun to decompose. Lankamp had a broken jaw, bruises, and dried blood pooled near her nose and mouth, but the city medical examiner doesn't believe Lankamp's injuries were caused by a beating. An empty glassine envelope with cocaine residue was found near her corpse, and investigators say her injuries may have been caused by a fall after a drug overdose. Results of a toxicology report are pending, but in the meantime police are looking to interview her ex-husband, who was arrested at the end of last year "for attacking her with a chair while using their child as a human shield," a source tells the News.

Just as the NYPD announced that it would distribute more Tasers as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, a Brooklyn man was killed by a Long Island police officer when he was Tasered. Suffolk County police said that the 26-year-old Tony Bradway died after being shocked twice by an officer's Taser, as the deceased was attempting to swallow a bag of cocaine.

Following her Sunday night arrest, Tatum O'Neal held her head high yesterday upon her release from the 7th Precinct, where she spent the night. The actress was busted buying crack and cocaine on Clinton Street, not far from her apartment in The Forward building, around 7:30 p.m. Not even a full 24-hours later she quickly came clean to The NY Post, thanked the cops for saving her, and is even trying to help the guy who sold her the drugs, Alan Garcia.

Paterson: I'd say I was about 22-23. I tried it a few times, yes. Where's all the hemming and hawing about what the definition of "using" coke is? Smoking it? Snorting it? Speedballing? Paterson was sniffing a fine chablis and some cocaine fell up his nose? Bill Clinton could spend years of an independent counsel's time trying to wriggle out of those questions. George W. Bush could say it's irrelevant since he's found Jesus. Our Governor just cops to being a young man in the 1970s with an indiscreet, if not unusual past. Has NY found its first honest politician--willing to accept some responsibility for indiscretions on the way up, rather than falling back on them as an excuse (sex addict) on his way down?

An ongoing investigation of corruption and illegal practices in the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit could jeopardize dozens, if not hundreds, of successful prosecutions of drug dealers. The possibility has arisen days after a sergeant and a detective were arrested for paying an informant with drugs and cash that they themselves had robbed from the addict. Another sergeant in the unit was also arrested for using NYPD resources to investigate the vehicle IDs of a drug dealer's suspected rivals.

Detective Sean Johnstone of the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit was arrested yesterday along with police officer Julio Alvarez in connection to 11 missing bags of cocaine that Johnstone seized in a drug bust. The detective was caught talking about the drugs when he forgot that he was wearing a wire for an undercover operation and he recorded himself talking about them to Alvarez.

The officers were caught after Johnstone unknowingly left a wire that he was wearing turned on. The two officers were heard talking to a third unnamed officer about a drug bust and how they confiscated 28 bags of cocaine, but only turned in 17 of them.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens.
• An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

The NY Post warns the women of New York that their bag habits may be bad for them. Some women sling up to 11 lbs over their shoulder on a daily basis, and doctors warn that "Any time there's an unequal weight distribution on the shoulders or upper back, it's going to affect alignment of the spine." While we think it's more about living in New York and carrying around what you need to get you through your waking (and walking) hours -- the Post also lays blame on celebs who have made the big-bag trend popular.

Designers and fashion-forward celebrities have turned oversized totes with massive metal hardware into must-have accessories. While many start at over $1,000, they also weigh an average of 4 pounds empty.

Pint-sized celebrities and models who do cocaine on the front page of the London Daily Mirror have taken to bragging about their protruding collar bone indirectly, by sporting an extremely large bag. Seemingly, the largeness of your bag is inversely related to your smallness, thus, the greater the possibility that you could dismember yourself and stuff all of your extremities into it. The trend probably started with the Olsen twins, the originators of all things hip and extremely outsized.