$30 million heroin bust on Sedgwick Ave.

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Authorities said they confiscated $30 million worth of heroin at 2830 Sedgwick Ave. in Kingsbridge Heights and another nearby site on Saturday.

After conducting surveillance on the apartment building, Drug Enforcement Administrationa (DEA) officials arrested Ramon Rivas, 59, and Jose Rodriguez, 48, on first- and third-degree charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

After approaching the suspects, who were inside a Jeep Cherokee outside 2830 Sedgwick Ave., agents found 13 pounds of heroin in compartments in the vehicle along with 44 pounds of the drug and $50,000 in cash inside Mr. Rivas’ apartment. Authorities subsequently found nine pounds of heroin at a Public Storage unit in Yonkers belonging to Mr. Rodriguez.

It was the latest in a series of busts in the northwest Bronx, which has seen at least two other major heroin crackdowns so far this year. On May 17, the DEA seized 154 pounds of heroin at 210 W. 231st St. — the largest bust in the state in the agency’s history. Later that month, on May 28, authorities raided an apartment at 238 W. 238th St. that was allegedly part of a “major heroin supply ring” that yielded a total of $5 million in heroin.

Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said in a phone interview that this neighborhood is appealing to drug supply chains since it is close to interstate highways and has relatively low crime rates. She added that heroin in the pure form it takes while still at stash houses like the one on Sedgwick Avenue is unlikely to find its way into the immediate vicinity.

But overall, she said, “The fact that heroin is flooding the city means it’s cheap and pure. The greater the supply, the more likely [to have] addiction issues.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said in a statement that one third of DEA seizures in the U.S. have taken place in the New York district, showing “the significant role drug law enforcement play in NY by thwarting drug traffickers’ attempts to increase the number of heroin users via heroin loads into our city.”

In the latest case, Mr. Rivas and Mr. Rodriguez were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday. Bail was set at $150,000 for Mr. Rivas and $15,000 for Mr. Rodriguez, according to a spokeswoman for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. They had not posted bail as of press time, she added.

Last month, a Press special report found that heroin has taken a hold among some local teenagers.

“Taking this much heroin off the street, means quite a number of those high schools kids won't be using it because it’s not going to be available,” Ms. Brennan said.

heroin, Bridget Brennan, Ramon Rivas, Jose Rodriguez, 2830 Sedgwick Avenue, Shant Shahrigian