Over 100 pounds of cocaine was found during a drug bust at a busy Times Square hotel. Six drug traffickers were indicted on Monday for the Oct. 25 arrest.
According to Fox, police observed at least two smugglers leaving the Crown Plaza Hotel with suitcases on Oct. 25. While this may seem like a normal sight, the men weren't carrying clothes in their luggage. The two men got into two different cars. One got into a BMW while the other, Luis Cuervas-Muniz got into a livery cab.
Police pulled over the cab and found the suitcase with eight pounds of the cocaine. The driver was taken into custody.
Cuervas-Muniz abandoned his suitcase in the cab and returned to the hotel. When they spotted Cuevas-Muniz talking to another man with a suitcase in the hotel lobby, they arrested him and recovered the suitcase which contained 66 pounds of cocaine. The other man fled the scene and hasn't been arrested.
Police also pulled over the man who got into the BMW, Fernando Alvarado. Alvarado and his driver were arrested as police recovered a suitcase that contained 14 pounds of cocaine.
Police then raided the men's hotel room where they found and arrested two more suspects. They also recovered plastic wrappings used to cover the drugs, cell phones and plane tickets.
The group of smugglers flew from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Orlando, Florida. They then traveled to White Plains, NY and then to the busy Times Square hotel.
The drugs totaling 105 pounds is worth up to $5 million on the street. Fernando Alvarado, Luis Cuevas-Muniz, Roberto Alvarez, Gerinerdo Hernandez, Kaleb Altiery-Vazquez, and Juan Alverio-Ruiz were all arrested and charged with conspiracy and drug-related charges.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
