Authorities seized 20 pounds of fentanyl in a drug bust Tuesday in the Bronx, with 10 people suffering minor injuries during the operation, the Daily News has learned.
A task force involving the New York Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and New York state troopers participated in the operation around 3 p.m. on the first floor of a building between Prospect Ave. and Southern Blvd. in Belmont, arresting two men and seizing more than 8kg of fentanyl, sources told The News.
“There were undercover purchases of drugs at the apartment, this was just the latest,” one source told The News. “A total of eight-plus kilograms of fentanyl was recovered. Some were in brick form and others were in containers with lids like a cooler.”
EMS was called to the scene when officers opened one container filled with a loose powder that had a “strong odor,” according to sources. The FDNY’s HazMat team and fire personnel also responded to the spill, the FDNY said.
Prior to the bust, two daycare facilities on the first and third floors of the building were evacuated, sources said.
“I had no idea,” said Brett Boston, the superintendent of the building. “Apparently they weren’t selling fentanyl, they were packaging.”
Boston said a tenant who lived for four years in the first-floor apartment where the bust took place “was quiet” and that “there was no traffic” in and out of the apartment.
“He never wanted anyone in his apartment. He never wanted anyone inside or any work done on his apartment,” Boston said.
Tenants who lived in the building said they had complained for years of trespassers and shootings.
“When we complain, nothing gets done,” said a woman who asked to remain anonymous. “It is sad that it has come to this. We have been dealing with trespassers and drug dealers, and this building has been shot at multiple times. Management has done nothing.”
Ten people injured in the operation included eight first responders and two civilians; all suffered minor injuries, sources said. An NYPD detective was treated on scene and a state trooper was taken to St. Barnabas hospital for treatment.
Footage from Citizen shows first responders at the apartment building.
