BROOKLYN — A suspected Brooklyn drug dealer about to peddle thousands of dollars worth of fireworks ahead of July Fourth weekend was busted at his Bushwick apartment earlier this month, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jose Hernandez, 44, was caught with at least $2,000 worth of professional-grade fireworks when police executed a search warrant at his apartment on Knickerbocker Avenue between Eldert and Covert streets around 11 a.m. on June 3, according to court papers. Police officers also found $3,000 in cash, a loaded Glock .45-caliber pistol and a large quantity of crack cocaine.
Prosecutors said they believe Hernandez rented a van earlier this year and traveled to Pennsylvania where he made a bulk purchase of fireworks, which he intended to resell in the city where all consumer fireworks are illegal to use, buy, sell and transport.
Police had been monitoring Hernandez with undercover officers and surveillance since the spring. He was observed selling least $6,660 worth of cocaine between April and May, including a sale of nine bags of cocaine and around $350 in fireworks to an undercover officer inside his apartment on May 27, according to court documents and sources familiar with the case.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty to charges including multiple counts of sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a weapon in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday and is currently held on $300,000 bail, according to prosecutors.
His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
