Federal agents arrested seven people and seized narcotics with a street value of roughly $1 million after raiding a Bronx drug mill where packages labeled “Game of Death” were stuffed with fentanyl, officials said Friday.
The bust followed a long-term Drug Enforcement Administration investigation. Agents conducting surveillance outside a Bronx Blvd. apartment building near E. 224th St. in Wakefield spotted two suspects carrying a brown paper bag enter a Honda CRV around 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
After searching the vehicle, the agents recovered a clear plastic bag that appeared to contain narcotics. The two men in the car, Exander Rodriguez-Santos, 29, and Juan Burgos, 37, were taken into custody, and the feds seized a key to an apartment inside the nearby residential building.
The DEA agents then entered the apartment, where they found four men and one woman laboring in an active fentanyl packaging mill, officials said.
DEA New York Task Force Division
Glassine envelopes stamped “Game of Death” are seen after a fentanyl bust in the Bronx on Tuesday. (DEA New York Task Force Division)
“Shutting down an operation with mill workers fully equipped to fill tens of thousands of small glassine bags with fentanyl for street sales undoubtedly saved precious lives,” Brennan said.
Law enforcement recovered tens of thousands of glassines believed to contain fentanyl at the apartment, along with drug paraphernalia including grinders, strainers, scales and bottled cutting agents, Brennan said. Roughly 8 pounds of apparent fentanyl mixtures were seized.
Narcotics inside the apartment tested positive for fentanyl in field tests. The results of DEA laboratory analysis are pending.
“It is alarming that these defendants were allegedly operating a fentanyl packaging mill using labels that read ‘Game of Death’ across the street from a park where children are known to play,” said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. “Investigators found Narcan taped to the walls of the apartment where drugs valued at over $1 million were discovered, suggesting that those involved were protecting themselves while working to poison the public.”
During their arraignments, bail was set for all seven defendants in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $400,000 bond.