20 POUNDS OF HEROIN AND CRYSTAL METH SEIZED BY QUEENS TASK FORCE RESULTING IN THREE ARRESTS

The narcotics seized in Queens.

Almost 20 pounds of heroin and crystal meth -- worth a combined $2 million -- have been seized from a trio of Queens drug dealers, prosecutors announced today.
The dealers had operated out of a stash house on 96th Street in Corona, Queens, officials said, and were arrested after an alleged drug and cash exchange last month in a car at East 212th St. and Dekalb Avenue in the Bronx.

Miguel Mercado-Guelen, 33, aka Tony Perez, who lived at the allecolged stash house, is due to be arraigned in Manhattan today on conspiracy and drug possession charges.

Diego Estevez, 39, of Danbury, Conn., was arraigned May 1 and is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail. The third man, Henry Nunez, 38, of Empire Ave. in Brooklyn, was arraigned May 6 and is being held in lieu of $200,000.

The meth, which was in smokable form, weighed nine pounds -- or a total of four kilos -- and was worth $960,000 on the street, said Bridget Brennan, the city's Special Narcotics Prosecutor. It is believed to have originated from megalabs in Mexico, Brennan said.

“This seizure is typical of a pattern that we’ve seen developing in our narcotics investigations across the city," Brennan said.

"Methamphetamine is a homegrown product for Mexican cartels. Clearly they are trying to promote the use and addiction to crystal meth here in New York City. The city Health Department data reflects a dangerous escalation in related hospitalizations," she said.