Puerto Rico-New York Drug Ring Busted By Feds: Cocaine Traffickers Used Bronx Daycare As Cover

A Puerto Rico - New York drug ring has been uncovered in the Bronx, New York using a day care centre as a cover. Investigators told CBS that they arrested the networ's ringleader Juan Valdez on Thursday. Valdez is wanted on numerous charges involving trafficking cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York using the U.S. Postal Service. Following a search of the day care centre, the NYPD found over a kilo of cocaine, over 1,000 oxycodone pills and a loaded gun.

Juan Valdez is one of the most wanted men in New York's drug rings. Drug Enforcement Agency officers have seized over $1.4 million worth of cocaine linked to Valdez's drug network in the last five years. He was arrested and charged with conspiracy, the possession and sale of controlled substances, weapons possession, money laundering and other crimes. Valdez's arrest was the culmination of a long operation by New York's Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

Another two men, Juan Bernal and Ada Padilla were also arrested in connection to Valdez's operation. According to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Valdez ran the day-to-day activities of the narcotics operation, with assistance from Bernal and Hanley. The latest information suggests narcotics were concealed inside SpongeBob SquarePants bedding. These arrests end a brazen conspiracy that pumped narcotics worth millions onto New York City’s streets," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.