February 17, 2000

$520,000 IN ILLICIT DRUG

TRAFFICKING PROFITS SEIZED BY NYPD AND QUEENS DA

IN RIDGEWOOD SECTION OF QUEENS COUNTY

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Inspector John H. Regan, Commanding Officer of Narcotics Borough Queens, today announced the seizure in the Ridgewood section of Queens of approximately $520,000 in apparent illicit drug trafficking profits.

District Attorney Brown said, "The seizure of such a huge amount of cash from one source is an example of the vast amounts of money being laundered and transferred in various ways in the metropolitan area by the large drug syndicates. Constant vigilance by the law enforcement community at tracking and seizing large amounts of narcotics and the cash profits derived therefrom severely impacts upon the drug syndicates by interrupting the business cycle at both ends and makes it difficult for them to continue to operate. The drug business is a money business and by interrupting the flow of profits we impede the flow of drugs into our neighborhoods."

"This large seizure of drug trafficking profits clearly underscores the need to continue these types of investigations," said NYC Police Commissioner Howard Safir. "This laundered money came for the sale of drugs smuggled into this country and was on its way back to South America before we confiscated it. Hopefully, this enforcement action will send a clear message to drug traffickers that the NYPD and our partners in the law enforcement community will aggressively pursue anyone trafficking, distributing and using drugs."

The seizure stemmed from a joint investigation conducted by the New York City Police Department and the Queens District Attorney's office by an investigative team which is part of Queens County's responsive efforts to strike at money laundering. This joint force routinely works hand in hand with other local, state and federal agencies coordinating drug money laundering operations and intelligence activity in the New York metropolitan area. According to the District Attorney, on February 14, 2000 at about 2:30 PM, detectives assigned to Narcotics Borough Queens stopped a vehicle at Grand Avenue and Queens Blvd. in the Elmhurst Section of Queens. Inside the vehicle the detective found approximately $150,000. After further investigation, a search warrant was drafted by Assistant District Attorneys in DA Brown's Narcotics Investigations Bureau. The warrant was issued by New York City Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chinn Brandt and executed at a trucking warehouse in the Ridgewood section of Queens. As a result of the search an additional $370,000 was seized at the warehouse.

According to the District Attorney, "Money laundering is a multi-billion dollar business that moves illicit profits from drug trafficking activities out of the United States and back to South American and other drug producing countries. While money laundering is a national problem, it is particularly troublesome in the New York metropolitan area because it is a leading center of finance and because our airports and highways make it a key transportation hub for the movement of illegal narcotics and the profits derived therefrom. Money laundering can take many forms and may involve the use of otherwise legitimate businesses. One mechanism used to launder cash generated by drug sales is the conversion, through banks and other financial institutions, of tainted money into clean or legitimate money so as to conceal the criminal origin of the funds. Another is the purchase, with drug profits, of trade goods from American companies that export to foreign countries. Money laundering can also involve the old fashioned physical shipments of vast amounts of cash inside products or in the false bottoms of containers. Recent statistics show a dramatic increase in the amount of drug currency seized in this country. These statistics appear to indicate that the amount of money being laundered is on the rise."

This week's seizure was the second large cash seizure in Queens during the last few weeks. On January 25, 2000, this same investigative team seized a record $4.57 million dollars from an apartment at 37-56 75th Street in Jackson Heights. Thereafter money laundering records were seized from a hotel room at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel near LaGuardia Airport. No one has filed a claim alleging ownership of the seized monies.

The seizure was made by New York City Police Department Detectives Stephen Scalza and John Clyne under the supervision of Sgt. Alan Hoehl and Lt. Thomas Manning of Narcotics Borough Queens under the command of Inspector John H. Regan.

Assistant District Attorneys Anastasia Spanakos and Gregory Pavlides of the District Attorney's Narcotics Investigations Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter A. Crusco and Wilbert J. LeMelle are in charge of the investigation.

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