Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor

80 CENTRE STREET, SIXTH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10013 212-815-0400, GEN. 212-815-0440, FAX

PRESS RELEASE
November 19th, 2009
Magda Gandasegui, Director of Public Information
mgandasegui@specnarc.org
(212) 815-0525

$800,000 PLUS OVER 61 POUNDS OF COCAINE SEIZED IN NORTH BROOKLYN--THREE ARRESTED

     A joint investigation by the Office of the NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor and the New York State Police culminated in the seizure of more than $800,000 and 28 kilograms of cocaine and the arrest of two men and a woman. The money and 18 kilograms were seized on the second-floor apartment of 113 North 7th Street, an up-and-coming section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During a search operation New York State troopers found the money and the drugs hidden underneath the seat of a portable sauna inside the apartment. Earlier yesterday, a team of NYS Troopers followed Ronald Lugo, 44 years old, after they observed him leaving the 7th Street location and placing two boxes in his vehicle. Lugo’s car was stopped on the Bronx side of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge where police recovered 10 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were wrapped in packaging matching the narcotics seized in the apartment. Lugo was arrested on the spot. The 61 pounds of cocaine are valued at several million on the street.

     Johanny Olmedo, 48, and Christine Ladeveze, 48, were arrested at the Brooklyn apartment after police seized the narcotics and the narcotics proceeds. Olmedo identified himself as the superintendent of the building and the legal tenant of the apartment.    

     The defendants are being charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First and Third Degrees and other related charges. They will be arraigned today at Arraignment Part 3 at 100 Centre Street, First Floor.