A 60-year-old Bronx man was arrested this week after officials recovered more than 26 pounds of cocaine and over $3 million in cash from his Norwood apartment in a raid.
The city’s Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor reported on March 22 that a department complaint accuses the man, Juan Rondon, of operating as a major drug trafficker — charging him with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees. In Manhattan Criminal Court on March 21, Rondon — who was reportedly previously deported in 2006 — was held without bail.
“This investigation shows how lucrative the cocaine trafficking business can be,” said NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan. “Over a span of years, an accused major trafficker apparently squirreled away more than $3 million, filling secret compartments inside furniture to the brim with bundles of cash wrapped together in rubber bands, expensive watches, and kilograms of cocaine.”
Officials arrested Rondon on March 20 after a two-month, multiple-agency investigation.
According to the special narcotics office, officials observed Rondon outside of 3405 Gates Place in Norwood on March 20 entering the building with a bag, then exiting with the same bag, then returning empty handed. Later, investigators stopped him in the building’s lobby and reported he was in possession of cocaine and the keys to apartment 2A.
Officials conducted a court-authorized search of Rondon’s apartment and apparently found many pieces of furniture rigged with “secret trap compartments” — including dressers, nightstands and a coffee table — stuffed with cash, cocaine and even luxury watches, according to the special narcotics office.
Brennan said in a statement that the “absence of special security equipment or fortified locks on the nondescript apartment suggests misguided confidence.”
Rondon was arrested, and the Drug Enforcement Agency lab analysis on the narcotics were still pending as of March 22.
“Investigative savvy and perseverance, with some canine assistance, netted the narcotics proceeds and prevented millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine from hitting the streets of New York City and surrounding areas,” Brennan said.
This is one of the first major drug busts in the Bronx this year, but there were multiple high profile raids in 2023.
In August, the director of Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (B.R.A.G.), Michael Rodriguez, was booked upstate as the main supplier of a cocaine network. A few months ago he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Then in September the Bronk’s collective heart broke when 1-year-old baby Nicholas Dominici was killed and three others were injured due to fentanyl exposure at El Divino Niño Day Care in Kingsbridge Heights. In a search, officials found a trap door beneath the floor of the day care’s play area where the fentanyl, as well as other narcotics and paraphernalia, was recovered. The bust resulted in multiple arrests.
Later in October, investigators arrested three people for allegedly operating a drug trafficking scheme out of a Soundview pizzeria. Law enforcement reported they found more than 100 pounds of narcotics — including cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and oxycodone — as well as a kilo press and $40,000 in cash.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
