DEA busts major narcotics lab
Investigators fi nd drugs and chickens inside basement of Highbridge building
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A south Bronx drug lab
which apparently doubled
for cockfi ghting in a residential
Highbridge building is
no more.
DEA agents alongside the
NYPD raided the basement
of 136 W. 170th St. on Friday,
June 19, seizing three industrial
pill press machines
which were used to form
counterfeit pills from illicit
drugs, over two and half
pounds of suspected heroin,
34 grams of suspected fentanyl
and approximately
fi ve pounds of methamphetamine,
which included a
pound of crystal meth and
approximately 1,600 blue
methamphetamine pills, according
to the Offi ce of the
Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
“This is the fi rst time our
offi ce has seen an illegal pill
production operation of this
scale, with three active pill
presses,” said Bridget G.
Brennan.
“The lethal combination
of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine,
disguised as
familiar pills, would have
put unsuspecting users at
grave risk of overdose,” she
added.
To the shock of agents, an
estimated 30 to 50 roosters
and chickens that authorities
believe were being bred
for cockfi ghting were discovered
in the basement as well.
Prior to that major raid,
surveillance was ordered
on suspect Jenison Lebron
of Manhattan who was arrested
along with Alfredo
Goris of the Bronx on multiple
possession charges.
Two days before the raid,
agents learned that three
suspicious packages from
China believed to be pill
presses which weighed more
than 280 pounds that were
addressed to 626 10th Street,
Apartment 5, in Union City,
New Jersey.
Lebron was seen accepting
the packages in New Jersey,
wheeling them into the
building in hand trucks, according
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,8 JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020 BTR
to authorities.
He was then seen loading
a heavy blue barrel into the
back of a gray Acura, which
Lebron drove back the Highbridge
building while being
covertly tailed by a surveillance
team.
The basement location
was determined after police
viewed footage showing
both Lebron and Goris entering
the 170th Street address
through the cellar door with
heavy bags and suitcases up
to 48 hours prior to the raid.
Both Lebron and Goris
were arrested as they left 136
W. 170th St. at about 10 p.m.
while the building was being
searched by police.
The two were arraigned
over the weekend in Manhattan
Criminal Court, Goris
was released without bail
while Lebron was held in
custody to appear for a bail
hearing regarding a prior
case.
DEA Special Agent in
Charge Ray Donovan called
the operation “a ticking time
bomb,” adding “with the capability
of highly dangerous
controlled substances
distributed to unsuspecting
users, increasing the risk of
overdoses and fatalities.”
Images and video courtesy of Offi ce of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor
For the City of New York.