They Were ARRESTED For Holding A Million Dollars Worth Of Meth, And The Police Just LET THEM GO!
In Democrat-run, police-defunded, bail-reformed New York, Mexican cartel smugglers caught with $1.2M worth of methamphetamine in the Big Apple have been released thanks to the lax bail laws.
This week, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York announced the arrests of 19-year-old Luis Estrada and 34-year-old Carlos Santos — both from southern California — for charges related to smuggling crystal meth.
Yet frustrated agents had to stand by and watch as the suspects were cut loose on just supervised release, the federal agency said.
That’s because the two men could only be charged with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as opposed to a narcotic, under the state’s outdated drug laws, authorities said. And the rap does not qualify for bail according to the Empire State’s soft-on-crime 2019 bail-reform measures, they said.
According to investigators, Estrada was arrested on July 5 with more than 40 pounds of crystal meth in his possession. Estrada also had two cellphones and a room key to a lower Manhattan hotel.
Then, on July 8, Santos was arrested with more than 100 pounds of crystal meth in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. Like Estrada, Santos was carrying two cellphones and, in addition, had cocaine on his person. Santos, investigators allege, drove a rental car across the United States to smuggle the drugs to New York.
Here’s what New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor, told the New York Post:
“This is a serious problem. The failure to include methamphetamine crimes among bail-eligible offenses was probably an oversight.”
“At the time the bail laws were changed, New York City was not a distribution hub for methamphetamine. Now it is, and we are unable to even ask for bail, even if we arrest someone with no ties to the city and a load worth millions of dollars,” Brennan said.
Under current New York State law, neither man could be charged with a bail-eligible offense, according to the authorities.
Here’s what the officials said in a statement:
“Methamphetamine is categorized as a controlled substance, but not a narcotic drug. Regardless of the amount of methamphetamine involved, and regardless of a defendant’s lack of connections to New York State, under current law judges may not set bail on cases involving the possession of only methamphetamine,” officials said in a statement.
“This seizure is a calculated treachery by Mexican Cartels to flood the United States with their poison and expand their customer base while driving addiction and increasing profit margins,” said Frank A. Tarentino III, of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New York Division.
According to a report released in January by the New York State Department of Health, deaths involving methamphetamines spiked from 0.3 per 100,000 residents in 2016 to 1.7 per 100,000 in 2020.
Sources: TheGatewayPundit, New York Post