A contractor hired to renovate a home stumbled upon a staggering $11 million worth of drugs and a stockpile of firearms and ammunition inside an abandoned building.
The unnamed construction contractor was tasked with refurbishing a home in Bellrose in the New York City borough of Queens, which was secretly housing millions in heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and deadly weapons.
The drugs were initially found in May, with officials on Wednesday announcing the arrest of Victor Rodriguez, 43.
‘One can’t even calculate how many lives would have been cut short or ruined by the millions of dollars worth of lethal narcotics and deadly weapons,’ Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz told a press conference.
‘Our families, friends and neighborhoods are all safer thanks to this massive seizure.’
Over $11 million of narcotics and a slew of deadly weapons (pictured) were found inside an abandoned Queens home
Victor Rodriguez, 43, faces 112 criminal counts after allegedly masterminding a scheme to distribute the slew of narcotics across the Big Apple
Among the items seized included fentanyl and untraceable ‘ghost guns’
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz (pictured at a press conference on Wednesday) announced Rodriguez’s arrest, declaring: ‘Our families, friends and neighborhoods are all safer thanks to this massive seizure’
The stunned contractor found the drugs soon after taking on the job, immediately reporting it to 911 and filing a report with the borough’s 105th precinct.
Shortly after the contractor left, surveillance footage captured a suspect sprinting to and from the abandoned home carrying two coolers.
Investigators said on Wednesday that they determined the coolers were packed with 15 kilos – around 33lbs – of drugs.
Police allege the man in the video is Rodriguez, accusing him of masterminding a scheme to distribute the millions in narcotics across the Big Apple.
Rodriguez was arraigned on Friday and faces 112-charges of conspiracy, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of pistol ammunition.
If convicted, the 43-year-old faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Officials allege that surveillance footage captured Rodriguez running in and out of the Queens home with coolers stuffed with drugs, shortly after the contractors left the home
The slew of drugs seized from the Queens property included almost one-and-a-half million glassine envelopes filled with heroin or fentanyl, which officials estimate has a street value of roughly $10 million
Also found in the stash was eight kilos of narcotics, over 1.5 million envelopes stuffed with drugs, and two hundred rounds of ammunition
The slew of drugs seized from the Queens property included almost one-and-a-half million glassine envelopes filled with heroin or fentanyl, which officials estimate has a street value of roughly $10 million.
Eight kilos – or 17lbs – of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine were also found in the home with a street value of $500,000.
Among the firearms found in the home included five semiautomatic ‘ghost guns’, which are untraceable firearms able to be bought online in pieces.
‘Ghost gun’ assembly kits were also among the huge stash.
Two hundred rounds of ammunition were also discovered, along with ammunition feeding devices.
Authorities added that the search also uncovered two parking summonses tied to Rodriguez.
He is next due in court on November 6.