JACKSON HEIGHTS — A pair of alleged drug smugglers were busted in Brooklyn driving a U-Haul truck with more than $4 million in cocaine they’d driven up from Texas as part of a larger organized drug operation in Queens, according to the district attorney’s office.
Nolvia Lili Amador Manueles, 26, of Houston, TX, and Monica Lucia Venegas Grimaldo, 19, of Brownsville, TX, were stopped while driving the truck with Arizona plates on Atlantic Avenue and Boerum Place Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m., according to the criminal complaint.
Police officers believed they were part of a larger organized drug operation in Queens, based off of an ongoing investigation, the complaint said.
Both Manueles and Grimaldo were brought to the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights while police obtained a search warrant for the truck, according to the complaint.
Officers found approximately 20 kilos of cocaine worth about $4.2 million hidden in two black speakers in the truck’s storage compartment, according to the DA’s office.
Manueles and Grimaldo are currently awaiting arraignment in Queens and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the DA.
Information about their lawyers was not immediately available.
