A drug dealer’s “Cohiba” coke-concealing scheme went up in smoke, according to prosecutors.
A Brooklyn man caught with 20 pounds of cocaine worth roughly $300,000 hidden in cigar boxes with false bottoms was charged with multiple counts of drug possession in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday morning.
Jose Leonardo was arrested after authorities busted him with the massive load of coke at his home in Cypress Hills following a months-long investigation into interstate narcotics trafficking, prosecutors said in court on Friday.
“Large shipments of narcotics are often creatively concealed — in this case cocaine was hidden underneath real cigars,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said in a statement.
Despite the creative concealment, Brennan said, “[T]his trafficking organization was no match for the diligent investigative work and effective collaboration demonstrated in this case.”
The drug bust was the result of a joint investigation by Brennan’s office, the NYPD, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
On April 16, agents and investigators tracked Leonardo as he allegedly drove a blue Nissan Rogue from his home in Cypress Hills to New Jersey, where he made a brief stop, then drove back to Brooklyn, where he started unloading boxes, prosecutors said. After getting a search warrant, authorities recovered from his house and car three large cardboard boxes that contained 45 boxes of cigars, prosecutors said.
“Only by prying the wooden paneling off the underside of the boxes did agents discover false bottoms that concealed thin bricks of cocaine,” a statement from Brennan’s office said.
Investigators found similarly sized bricks of ketamine in Leonardo’s bedroom, prosecutors said.
“This operation, which removed more than 9 kilos of cocaine hidden in the false bottoms of cigar boxes, underscores the investigative expertise that our special agents and law enforcement partners have in dismantling the schemes of treacherous drug traffickers” DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said in a statement.
Added Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, “The seizure of this massive quantity of cocaine makes Brooklyn safer and delivers a heavy blow to the drug-trafficking networks that poison our streets.”
If convicted, Leonardo faces between eight and 20 years in state prison.
He was released in June on $100,000 bail with court-ordered electronic monitoring.
Originally Published:
