Police officers with the New York Police Department (NYPD) recently arrested two individuals who allegedly ran a major drug distribution operation out of Gates Candy & Grocery, a candy store located on Gates Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, NY.

While searching for untaxed cigarettes at the candy store, officers with the NY State Finance Department were able to find massive quantities of illegal drugs after coming across a secret door inside the shop. The NYPD was subsequently notified and dispatched officers to the Brooklyn store. NYPD officers later executed a search warrant and reportedly seized 50 large bags filled with cocaine, 24 plastic bags filled with heroin, and a large amount of fentanyl, a powerful prescription painkiller that is often mixed with heroin in order to enhance the effects of the illegal drug.

Police also allegedly discovered drug paraphernalia, including a large number of glassine bags typically used to package heroin.

In order to transport all of the illicit narcotics and drug-related materials out of the candy store, police needed two trucks. Everything will be headed to an evidence lab, where technicians will examine the seized substances and determine whether those substances are actually drugs. Thomas Galati, the NYPD chief of intelligence bureau, said that authorities will also be examining the drug paraphernalia because it has “a lot of white powder” that may be a cutting agent or illicit narcotics.

According to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, the large quantity of drugs and drug-related items seized by police “reflects how significant that problem has become around that particular drug.” The particular drug that Bratton was referring to is fentanyl, which has been linked to a number of drug overdose deaths throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in recent months. Fentanyl was also identified as the drug that led to the overdose death of famous musician Prince in Minnesota earlier this year.

The suspects in the Brooklyn candy shop drug case include Mohamad Ali, a 46-year-odl resident of Hell’s Kitchen NY, and Hamdan Alsaidi, a 33-year-old resident of Kew Gardens in Queens NY. Both suspects have been charged with multiple drug crimes, including drug trafficking, distribution of heroin, distribution of cocaine, heroin possession, cocaine possession, illegal possession of prescription drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both suspects are currently being held in a New York correctional facility in lieu of $250K cash bail amounts.

For more information about this drug offense case, read the NY Daily News article, “Two Men Arrested for Drug-Selling Hub in Brooklyn Candy Store.”

 

If you have been arrested and charged with cocaine possession, heroin possession, simple possession of marijuana, or any other drug crime in New York, you need a qualified criminal defense lawyer on your side. The experienced criminal defense attorneys at the LaDuca Law Firm can help you fight your criminal charges and stay out of prison. Contact us now to schedule a free consultation at our office in Rochester, NY.