About 136 pounds of cocaine were found in two cars during a drug bust in New York. Two men – Mark Soto and Xavier Herbert-Gumbs – were arrested in connection with the cocaine, which is worth over $3 million.
In what authorities are calling one of the biggest busts in recent years, 136 pounds of cocaine were seized in the Bronx in New York.
According to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in New York, on Thursday, police pulled over a rental car on Williamsbridge Road with 110 pounds of cocaine inside. Police arrested 24-year-old Xavier Herbert-Gumbs, who confessed to putting the box holding the bricks of cocaine in the car.
Few hours later, 23-year-old U.S. Army Reserves Private Mark Soto was apprehended after he was caught attempting to remove a bag out of the trunk of another vehicle belonging to Herbert-Gumbs on Corlear Avenue and West 231 Street. Soto was arrested, and 26 pounds of cocaine were seized.
The 136 pounds of cocaine are valued at nearly $3 million and were originally shipped to Massachusetts and moved to the Big Apple. New York City authorities explained it was one of the biggest busts involving the drug in recent years. Kati Cornell, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor, said:
“This is the largest cocaine seizure that our office has made in recent years. Recently, we’ve seen a lot more large seizures of heroin, so this case is certainly unusual.”
Glenn Sorge, acting special agent in charge HSI New York, added:
“The violence associated with cocaine trafficking and the illicit proceeds poses a major threat to our communities’ welfare. HSI remains at the forefront of combating criminal organizations that threaten our homeland by smuggling drugs into the United States.”
According to officials, the men are members of a major narcotics trafficking network. The pair has been charged with four counts each of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees. Bail was set for each defendant at $400,000.
In November, the U.S. Coast Guard and federal authorities revealed a $748 million cocaine seizure after a lengthy investigation in the Eastern Pacific.
