Drug enforcement agents conducting surveillance earlier this week of a luxury apartment in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen ended up arresting two suspects and seizing a cache of cocaine and methamphetamines with a street value of more than $1 million, authorities said Friday.
A court authorized search of the W. 54th St. apartment revealed about 30 pounds of meth and more than eight pounds of coke packed in a suitcase inside a bedroom closet.
Agents also discovered nearly $28,000 in cash in a backpack in the closet.
“Our investigations take us all over New York City and the world, but this investigation led us to a million-dollar cocaine seizure in Hell’s Kitchen,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino. “DEA and our law enforcement partners are steadfast in bringing to justice those responsible for pushing illegal drugs onto our streets.”
Arrested were Jovanny Salas, 29, of Denver, Colo., and Sergio Betancourt Peralta, 34, of Manhattan, who were each charged with several counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force were watching the 27th-floor apartment on Tuesday when they spotted Salas leaving the residence shortly before 6 p.m., officials said.
Agents and officers apprehended him in the lobby and recovered a wallet filled with identifications belonging to Peralta, according to authorities. The wallet was attached to a key, which opened the apartment that Salas had left.
A few minutes later, agents armed with a search warrant used the key to enter the apartment, where they found Peralta, who was taken into custody.
Salas and Peralta were arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The drug den was located in the Mercedes House, an S-shaped luxury rental building with cascading floors of glass and steel.
A two-bedroom corner terrace unit, with floor-to-ceiling windows, rents for more than $7,400 a month, according to the building’s website.
The building’s amenities include a spin studio, resident lounges and an outdoor pool and sundeck.
