“When the facts come out it will be proven to be a bad search on the police department's part,” the defendant's attorney told Inside Edition Digital in a statement.
A New York City man was indicted for stashing six kilos of cocaine branded “Joe Biden” inside his car, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York and Drug Enforcement Agency.
Reynaldo Almonte, 29, was indicted in Manhattan Supreme Court this week on a string of drug-related charges after cops say they found the cocaine, which was branded after the president, hidden in his burgundy Nissan on Nov. 28, the New York Post reported.
Almonte, a Queens, New York, native, was busted in the Bronx after authorities say he was carrying a “weighed shopping bag” into his car and then noticed him moving objects around in the back of the vehicle, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor said in a statement.
When authorities followed Almonte’s vehicle, he was busted after they say he was double-parked and they searched the car, according to the statement.
Authorities say they found a hidden trap compartment in the rear passenger cabin of the vehicle. Inside the hidden trap were six kilogram-sized packages wrapped in plastic, along with approximately $7,000 cash and one of the packages bore a photo of President Joe Biden, according to authorities. Labels on other packages included a photo of a cat and the letters “AMG,” the DEA and Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor said in a statement.
Authorities say that preliminary field-testing indicated the packages contained cocaine and the DEA estimates the street value of the cocaine to be approximately $300,000.
Almonte was released on a $300,000 partially secured bail bond on December 8, 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced.
Almonte’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, told Inside Edition Digital that his client is innocent.
“When the facts come out it will be proven to be a bad search on the police department's part,” Lazzaro told Inside Edition Digital in a statement.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said in the press release, “Cocaine continues to be significant factor in overdose deaths in New York City. Cocaine has always posed significant health risks, but it is now commonly mixed with fentanyl, methamphetamine and other deadly substances, increasing risks to users. Taking thirteen pounds of cocaine off of our streets will save precious lives.”
“Similar to business marketing, drug traffickers brand their deadly product in various ways using hot topic photos, logos, or stamps referencing pop culture and current events,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said in the statement. “These six kilograms would be repackaged into thousands of baggies sold on our New York City streets. DEA saves lives every single day with seizures like this which prevented traffickers from mixing and selling a deadly fentanyl and cocaine cocktail.”
