Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

DEA: Fancy NYC Doormen Sign For Drugs On The Side


By

Garth Johnston

Published Feb 3, 2012

Modified Feb 3, 2012


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Not that kind of doorman, and not that kind of snow. But you get the idea!

 

KnickerbockerNY's flickr


By

Garth Johnston

Published Feb 3, 2012

Modified Feb 3, 2012


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Sending drugs through the mail, not the best long-term drug smuggling method! A week after 35 pounds of coke was delivered (presumably mistakenly) to the United Nations, the DEA has started coming down on an allegedly mob-connected smuggling ring that used doormen in posh buildings to sign for their illicit deliveries. "It’s still an ongoing investigation—we’re still looking into it," a DEA agent told the Post.

So far the DEA has charged two New York men, Lulzim Kupa and Nezer Papraniku, in the scheme—which involved bribing doormen to sign for and hold on to packages until the right parties could come and pick them up. The DEA is currently unsure of just how many buildings were used in the scheme and how many doorman were a part of it, but they say they've got leads. In court documents filed in Brooklyn the agency says "that it has several informants who possess inside knowledge about the doormen cocaine smuggling scheme, so additional arrests may follow."

As for how the ring got noticed? Well, it didn't help that the packages the doormen were signing for were sent to people who didn't live in the buildings in question. Guess it's back to stuffing cocaine in clams!

Tagged

cocaine

crime

dea

doormen

drug smuggling

drugs

nypd


Garth Johnston

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Judge temporarily halts overnight construction at NYC’s Chinatown jail

The order comes after Chinatown residents sued the city over noise, health concerns and years of planned after-hours construction.

By

Giulia Heyward

Published Oct 26, 2026 at 7:08 p.m. ET


Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools

A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.

By

Elizabeth Kim

News

Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools

A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.

By

Elizabeth Kim


Police search for man in Central Park sexual assault

By

Charles Lane

Rockefeller Center's 2026 Christmas tree is a 76-foot spruce from Upstate New York

By

Giulia Heyward

‘A killer cop lives here’: Brooklyn arrests raise questions about limits of free speech

By

Ben Feuerherd


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .