A duffle bag filled with Kilos of Cocaine
Seized from Interstate Traffickers On I-95 through Ct., NY & NJ
An investigation into interstate narcotics trafficking resulted in the seizure of approximately 20 kilograms (nearly 45 pounds) of cocaine worth more than $1 million from a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (NYDETF) tracked the vehicle from Connecticut through New York City to New Jersey, where it allegedly picked up the load of cocaine.
CARLOS ALMONTE PALMERS was arrested the night of March 13, 2024, and faces charges of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First and Third Degrees. ALMONTE PALMERS was deported from New York to the Dominican Republic in 2022. At an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court last night, a judge ordered him held without bail.
The investigation was conducted by NYDETF Group T-41, comprised of agents and officers from DEA New York Division, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the New York State Police, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service New York Division.
On March 13, 2024, at approximately 7 p.m., members of NYDETF Group T-41 conducted surveillance as the white Jeep Grand Cherokee, registered to ALMONTE PALMERS in Massachusetts, travelled southbound on I-95 from the New York State/Connecticut border. The Jeep crossed into the Bronx and Manhattan, and then over the George Washington Bridge towards New Jersey.
At approximately 7:50 p.m., the Jeep allegedly stopped at the Alexander Hamilton Travel Plaza in Secaucus, N.J., and pulled beside a large tractor trailer. Approximately two minutes later, the Jeep drove away heading towards New York City. An hour later, agents and officers stopped the vehicle on the Major Deegan Expressway in Yonkers, after heading northbound through the Bronx.
Agents and officers observed a large duffel bag stuffed with rectangular objects that proved to be 20 kilograms of narcotics. A field test indicated the presence of cocaine. The results of DEA analysis of the narcotics are pending.
Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New York Division (NY), New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban, New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven G. James and Daniel B. Brubaker, Inspector in Charge, New York Division at U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced the arrests following an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said, “I commend the excellent investigative work that led to the law enforcement seizure of 45 pounds of cocaine, which will be destroyed before it can claim any lives. As cocaine production in Colombia reached record levels last year, we have seen surging supplies of it in our city, sometimes mixed with fentanyl and other dangerous substances.”
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan thanked Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, and commended SNP’s Special Investigations Bureau, DEA New York Division, the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service New York Division for their work on the investigation.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said, “This investigation and arrest have resulted in a large seizure of cocaine destined for the Northeast. Drug traffickers use major highways and thruways to blend in with millions of travelers on the road, but instead of transporting a briefcase or luggage, Palmers was concealing one million dollars-worth of cocaine. I commend the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force and the NYC Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor on this investigation.”
