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Flip-Flops, Furniture, and Golf Bags As Drug Mules
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 22, 2006
Modified May 21, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 22, 2006
Modified May 21, 2010
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A $25 million heroin ring that spanned Colombia, Miami, the Bronx, and Jackson Heights, Queens, was busted by the DEA, which hauled 257 pounds of heroin in NYC alone. Fifty six people have been arrested after the two-year investigation, with 30 arrests yesterday. The DEA credited cooperation from Colombian and local authorities for the big bust, which was prompted by a hotline tip. Heroin was shipped into the U.S. by hiding it in furniture, golf bag linings, or the soles of platform flip-flops - see the photographs. Then it would be put in a Queens stash house and be prepared in "mills in the Bronx for retail distribution under different brand names, including Hypnotiq and Body Bag."
Fun factoid: The DEA got the tip that a Jackson Heights home was a stash house when a neighbor said an "unusual amount of people came and went at all hours."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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