{"id":219791,"date":"2026-05-04T21:31:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219791\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:31:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:31:44","slug":"massive-deadly-narcotics-drug-den-discovered-near-yankee-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219791\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive deadly narcotics drug den discovered near Yankee Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men were arrested following an investigation that took down a major drug stash location near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, law enforcement officials said on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Federal, state and local officers found a bevy of illegal drugs<\/a> during a court-authorized search at 69 W. 164th St., Apt. 2. The search yielded a combined total of approximately 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, ketamine and MDMA, approximately 30 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, over 100 pounds of marijuana, and $85,000.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested 40-year-old Eduardo Ramirez Salinas and 35-year-old Jonathan Franco, both of the Bronx, in connection with the stash. They were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 30. The city\u2019s Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor<\/a> (SNP) charged both defendants with first- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, but officials said \u201cadditional charges are anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the sting unfolded
\n\"seizedLarge quantities of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana were allegedly out in the open. A metal crate in the upstairs hallway near the bedrooms contained large quantities of marijuana.Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor<\/p>\n

Agents and investigators, including those from the SNP, Drug Enforcement Administration, NYPD, and NYS Police, entered the residence, a three-bedroom duplex within a split-family home, on April 30. Both defendants allegedly reside at the location and were home at the time of the sting. Franco was on the first floor; Salinas was in an upstairs bedroom, authorities said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Per the investigation, authorities discovered a \u201clarge stash\u201d of drugs in an upstairs room that Franco allegedly used as an office. Large quantities of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana were allegedly out in the open. A metal crate in the upstairs hallway near the bedrooms contained large quantities of marijuana.<\/p>\n

About a kilogram of cocaine was allegedly found in a closet, with more visible in the room. Investigators also found over 1.5 kilos of ketamine and MDMA in pill and powder form. The cash was rubber-banded and on a desk next to a money-counting machine, authorities said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DEA lab results on the substances are pending.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is alarming to recover tens of thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of cocaine, ketamine, and other illegal drugs, along with $85,000 cash in a residential neighborhood a few blocks from Yankee Stadium,\u201d Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cWe will continue to work with the Bronx District Attorney and our partners in the DEA\u2019s New York Task Force Division to stem the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Franco\u2019s bail was set at $25,000; Salinas is out on supervised release.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Federal research on mushrooms<\/p>\n

On April 18, President Donald Trump signed an executive order<\/a> to accelerate research into psychedelic mushrooms to treat patients with serious mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall provide Commissioner\u2019s National Priority Vouchers to appropriate psychedelic drugs that have received a Breakthrough Therapy designation and are in accordance with the criteria of the National Priority Voucher Program,\u201d part of the executive order states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Psilocybin, found in \u201cmagic mushrooms\u201d such as the ones seized in the Bronx sting, is a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, according to the DEA. There is currently no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men were arrested following an investigation that took down a major drug stash location near Yankee Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,24453,36166,86573,9,24,63,103,86574,646,129,131,130,6016],"class_list":["post-219791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-cocaine","tag-dea","tag-mdma","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-office-of-the-special-narcotics-prosecutor","tag-police-and-fire","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-yankee-stadium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}