By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — Police uncovered a cornucopia of drugs — including nearly 250 bags of heroin and a "fist-sized rock of crack" — when they busted an Allen Street tenant's alleged drug-dealing operation this week, according to the criminal complaint.
Luis Chevres, 40, and Maria Zabala, 52, of the Hernandez Houses complex at 189 Allen St., were arrested about 10 p.m. Tuesday after police executed a search warrant at the alleged drug den, the NYPD said.
Chevres allegedly threw 229 bags of heroin out of his 16th-floor window while police were attempting to enter his apartment, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
Once inside, police discovered a trove of narcotics and distribution paraphernalia, including 11 additional bags of heroin, 13 bags of cocaine, a fist-sized rock of crack-cocaine, $7,000 cash, a digital scale and hundreds more unused baggies, the criminal complaint said.
Chevres and Zabala have been charged with third-degree criminal possession of controlled substance with intent to sell, according to the district attorney.
Neighbors reported seeing multiple police personnel at the scene as well as a helicopter circling above around the time of the arrests.
"This is the neighborhood," rued Johnny Rivera, 47, a lifelong Lower East Side resident whose family lives in the building, adding that drug dealers "are the ones who run this" area.
Rivera noted that police had to escort some residents to their apartments while the arrests were being made.
"It's dangerous," he said.
