Cops Bust Alleged Drug Traffickers With 105 Pounds of Cocaine in Times Square

(AP File Photo)

Six alleged drug traffickers have been indicted roughly a month after police nabbed them with approximately 105 pounds of cocaine in the heart of New York City's Times Square.

The drugs would have been worth about $5 million on the street, the New York Post relates, and if the authorities hadn't been closely monitoring the situation the gang could have easily passed for tourists in the always-crowded area.  Many of the details of the case are just now emerging, as the case goes to court.

(Photo: Police Handout)

Gawker summarizes:

The bust sounds like something from a movie. One man, [Fernando Alvarado], was arrested after placing a suitcase containing 30 lbs of cocaine in the trunk of a silver BMW and attempting to drive off. Another man, Luis Cuevas-Muniz, loaded 8 lbs of blow in a livery cab, then went back inside to get a second bag, containing an additional 66 lbs. At this point, the state police grabbed two nearby NYPD officers, who assisted in arresting Cuevas-Muniz in the hotel's lobby. The driver of the livery cab was stopped and arrested a few blocks away.

Two others were arrested inside a hotel room. A third suspect fled into the awful Times Square crowds and was "lost in the holiday decorations-gazing crowds," a fate which, as Daily Intel points out, probably isn't much better than being arrested.

(Photo: NYSP via CBSNewYork)

The indictment was announced Monday by city Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan and State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D'Amico.

Authorities said plane tickets and other evidence revealed that members of the group had traveled from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to White Plains, N.Y., with a stop in Orlando, Fla.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.