United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MANHATTAN, NY. - Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division United States Drug Enforcement (DEA) John P. Gilbride stated, “This arrest and these seizures were a direct result of Operation Bombardier. On the upper west side of Manhattan, near a high school, one individual was arrested; three loaded semi automatic handguns, crack, cocaine and oxycodone seized. These drugs - ready for sale throughout New York - and guns to be used for violence are what fuel the same violence in Mexico responsible for the senseless and cruel death of a United States Federal Agent. DEA and our federal, state and local counterparts continue to be vigilant in identifying, investigating and dismantling drug trafficking organizations throughout our nation.”

Law enforcement joined forces in a series of coordinated actions against drug cartels and their associates who operate across the United States. DEA and its law enforcement counterparts have mobilized to increase pressure on these organizations at every level.

“A seizure of this much narcotics and three guns is disturbing under any circumstance. The fact that it was recovered in such a densely populated area, on the same block as a high school and a home for the elderly, makes it all the more alarming,” said New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.

On Thursday, February 24, 2011 members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force; which is comprised of agents and officers from the DEA, New York Police Department, New York State Police with assistance from Investigators from the New York City Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, were conducting a surveillance on a location that was a suspected drug stash location for a Mexican source of supply as part of Operation Bombardier.

In the early evening of February 24th, 2011, officers observed a male, later identified as Edwin Diaz, exit 312 87th Street, Apt. 4C, NY, NY. Officers approached, identified themselves and recovered small quantities of cocaine and oxycodone pills from his person. A search warrant for the suspected location, 312 87th Street, Apt. 4C, NY, NY, was obtained and officers recovered one kilogram of crack cocaine, five kilograms of powder, 350 pills of oxycodone and three loaded semi automatic handguns early in the morning of February 25, 2011. In addition numerous ledgers, an undetermined amount of United States Currency and documents were collected. The investigation is continuing.

These national series of actions illustrate the continued pressure U.S. law enforcement are placing on Mexican cartels and trafficking associates, in coordination and unity with partners in Mexico who are also waging an aggressive fight about these violent groups.

DEA, ICE, U.S. Marshals, and other federal, state, and local entities are attacking these organizations at every level in places such as New York, Atlanta, Houston, El Paso, and Newark, while working with our foreign counterparts in Mexico and Central and South America.