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Two Arrested After 65 Pounds Of Heroin Seized In Westchester

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Two men were arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration Tuesday after more than 65 pounds of heroin was seized from a truck axle in Croton.

More than 65 lbs of heroin was seized from a Croton residence.

More than 65 lbs of heroin was seized from a Croton residence.

Photo Credit: Drug Enforcement Administration

Fernando Quiles, a 47-year-old resident of Texas, and Jorge Ayala, a 33-year-old Greenwich resident were arrested at Sassi Drive and charged with intending to sell $2.3 million of heroin throughout the Northeast, yielding more than 500,000 individual doses of heroin, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Quiles and Ayala were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, conspiracy in the second degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree. 

The DEA investigated the two for for three months. Quiles received tractor trailer shipments of narcotics from a Mexican-based organization. The drug shipments crossed the Texas border and traveled into the New York City area, where Quiles and Ayala coordinated distribution of narcotics to their customer base, according to the DEA.

The defendants had rented the home in Croton for the sole purpose of using it as a place to park a tractor trailer and stash heroin, according to the DEA. Investigators stepped in after determining the defendants were about to receive a large load of heroin.

Agents and investigators stopped Ayala after he drove away from the location in a car. A search of the car yielded plastic-sealing equipment, plastic packaging materials, keys and a garage opener for 4 Sassi Drive, and a device for opening the trailer, according to the DEA

Quiles was apprehended in the vicinity of the trailer. Investigators and agents conducted a court authorized search of the home and found it was empty and unfurnished, only containing a narcotics ledger book, tools, a scale and packaging materials were recovered from the house, according to the DEA.

DEA agents transported the trailer to a facility in Tarrytown equipped with mechanical tools and heavy machinery. Agents and investigators examined the trailer closely and observed signs of welding on the axle. The axle was cut open to reveal more than 30 kilograms of heroin inside, according to the DEA.

The defendants were arraigned in Manhattan and are being held without bail. 

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