Federal agents found a massive narcotics lab manufacturing opioids in a luxury high rise with a “gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline.”
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) Newark Field Division and the New York State Police raided the apartment Tuesday, discovering a synthetic drug lab making the highly potent chemical U-47700. U-47700, a synthetic opioid, is listed as one of the most dangerous substances regulated by the DEA, according to the New York Post.
DEA agents on scene said the narcotics lab stood out from their usual finds due to its expensive location and cleanliness.
“This was the nicest drug lab I’ve ever seen,” an unidentified agent in a hazmat suit told the New York Post. “I see all of them, but this one was super-clean, no garbage anywhere and had the best view — a gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline. I’ve never seen a drug lab like this. Usually you are up to your knee in garbage … not this one.”
Authorities began their investigation into the drug ring following the overdose death of a 37-year-old man from Wisconsin, which culminated in the high rise bust. Police arrested two men in connection with the drug lab who face up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
“I’m freaked out because it’s very combustible stuff,” Jeremy Rosenberg, a resident of the high rise, told the New York Post. “It’s scary. I didn’t expect this kind of thing here, but I guess no neighborhood is immune from this.”
The opioid epidemic is currently wreaking havoc on New York. The heroin overdose death rate in New York spiked 30 percent in 2015 and last year roughly four people died from a drug overdose each day in New York City. The DEA has designated four counties in New York as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. Early data from the NYC Department of Health shows there were nearly 1,400 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2016.
Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under 50.
The New York Times recently culled through data from state health departments and county medical examiners and coroners, predicting there were between 59,000 and 65,000 drug deaths in 2016.
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