BUSHWICK — A routine cigarette tax stamp inspection of a neighborhood sweet shop turned into a drug bust after police found a large cache of cocaine and heroin behind a secret wall, police said.
The inspector with the Department of Taxation and Finance got suspicious after seeing drug paraphernalia in The Gates Candy & Grocery, at 1597 Gates Ave., according to authorities.
Officers returned Thursday with a search warrant and uncovered a large stash of cocaine and heroin.
Police arrested two men for using the Brooklyn candy shop as a stash for heroin and cocaine, police said.
Police arrested 46-year-old Hell’s Kitchen resident Mohamad Ali and 33-year-old Kew Gardens resident Hamdan Alsaidi, police said. The pair are being charged with operating as major drug traffickers, criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Both men are scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
Officers recovered what they believe is 50 large Ziploc bags of cocaine, 12 plastic bottles of cocaine, seven plastic containers of cocaine, 24 large Ziploc bags of heroin, eight Ziploc bags of crack cocaine, large Ziploc bags of fentanyl, cocaine compressors and scales. The haul is headed to a lab for testing, police said.
