United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Enforcement Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Farhana Islam, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging GLEN CONTRERAS and ERICK MARCANO with conspiring to distribute vast quantities of cocaine. During the investigation, law enforcement agents seized approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine from the conspiracy’s stash house. CONTRERAS is also charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of that conspiracy. CONTRERAS and MARCANO were arrested on October 29 and October 30, 2026, respectively. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
“Stash houses like the one in this case supply the drugs that devastate our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “As alleged, Glen Contreras kept approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine and a loaded handgun in a Queens luxury high-rise apartment, which were seized as part of this law enforcement operation. This operation kept a massive amount of deadly poison from getting onto the streets; and this Office, working with our partners at the DEA, will continue to find these locations and hold accountable those who run them.”
“The seizure of approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine and a loaded firearm from a residential high-rise in Long Island City, Queens, exposes the alarming scale of this alleged drug trafficking operation” said DEA New York Enforcement Division Special Agent in Charge Farhana Islam. “To those who think they can hide behind apartment doors and turn our neighborhoods into distribution hubs for dangerous drugs, consider this your warning: the DEA will find your stash houses, dismantle your networks, and pursue you wherever you operate. No building is beyond our reach, and no neighborhood is off-limits.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment, the underlying Complaints, and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:
Since in or about August 2026, the DEA has been investigating a drug trafficking organization that moves bulk loads of cocaine into the New York City area. CONTRERAS leased an apartment in a high-rise building in Long Island City, Queens (the “Apartment”), where the organization’s cocaine was stored. In August 2026, surveillance footage captured CONTRERAS and another individual moving boxes into the building and up to the Apartment’s floor.
On October 29, 2026, law enforcement arrested CONTRERAS and recovered approximately $40,000 in cash and a currency counter from his residence in New Jersey. That night, agents executed a search warrant of the Apartment and recovered approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine and a handgun with a loaded magazine. During the search, MARCANO arrived on the same floor of the Apartment carrying a key fob that opened the Apartment’s door in an apparent attempt to remove surveillance cameras.
Approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine and a handgun recovered during the court-authorized search of the Apartment.
CONTRERAS, 40, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, and MARCANO, 53, of the Bronx, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms and more of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. CONTRERAS is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed, and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pavlis is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.