Overview
- The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and partner agencies announced Wednesday that investigators recovered a combined 30 kilograms of cocaine shipped from California to UPS locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
- Three people were arrested and named in the case — Joshua Vargas, Tyrone Watts and Ines Zouiche — on charges including criminal possession after undercover officers and surveillance intercepted the packages in July.
- Investigators used K9 screening at a Queens sorting facility, an undercover officer posing as a UPS driver and physical surveillance to identify and stop the shipments at an East Williamsburg building and a Kips Bay UPS Store.
- Authorities say they recovered forged driver’s licenses, about $4,000 in cash, a small vial of cocaine and two children were present in a car stopped after one arrest; officials estimate the seized drugs are worth roughly $900,000.
- Federal and city agencies including the DEA, NYPD, U.S. Customs and Homeland Security are involved and prosecutors warned the case highlights a wider public‑health threat from cocaine that is frequently contaminated with opioids and other synthetics.