BAYONNE — Three men were arrested by federal Drug Enforcement Agents on Aug. 1 in Bayonne. The agents said they observed two alleged drug transactions at a warehouse.
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Wilbert L. Plummer, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), said Eduardo Andino, Omar Aponte, and Wilfredo Aquino were charged in connection with the seizure of approximately 350 kilograms of cocaine. The wholesale value of the cocaine is more than $13 million.
In the first transaction, the DEA press release said, Aquino’s car was driven to the warehouse while he waited nearby. When his car was returned and he got back inside, Aquino was stopped by law enforcement officers who found cocaine that was allegedly inside the car. In the second transaction, Andino drove a minivan away from the warehouse. A few blocks away, a law enforcement officer observed the minivan near a Cadillac Escalade. The hatch of the Escalade was open, and there were two men near the open hatch. Law enforcement officers later stopped the minivan, which was driven by Andino, and the Escalade, which was driven by Aponte. Cocaine was allegedly inside the Escalade.
During a search of the warehouse and of Aponte’s and Aquino’s cars, 351 brick-shaped packages of suspected cocaine were seized. In the warehouse, some of the packages were concealed in shipping palettes that contained bamboo flooring. The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Lonergan is in charge of the prosecution.