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Cocaine Dealer Used Livery Cabs to Deliver $70K in Drugs, Prosecutors Say

By Kathleen Culliton | November 7, 2016 3:16pm
 Rodriguez, 49, was arrested after police found black plastic bags stuffed with $300,000 in cash, almost two pounds of cocaine and a .380 caliber firearm in his Long Island home, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez, 49, was arrested after police found black plastic bags stuffed with $300,000 in cash, almost two pounds of cocaine and a .380 caliber firearm in his Long Island home, prosecutors said.
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Courtesy of the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office

NEW YORK CITY — A Long Island man who used a fleet of livery cars to deliver more than $70,000 worth of cocaine in Bushwick and East New York was indicted Monday morning after a year-long undercover NYPD investigation, officials said.

Edgar Rodriguez, 49, was arrested on Oct. 19 when police found black plastic bags stuffed with $300,000 in cash, almost two pounds of cocaine, a .380 caliber firearm and various drug packaging materials during a search of his Farmingdale, Long Island home, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez is charged with selling $70,000 worth of cocaine through his fleet of at least four licensed livery cabs and out of Nana Deli in Bushwick since the NYPD launched its investigation in Dec. 2015. 

Livery drivers delivered the cocaine by taking orders on their cellphones then picking up clients as if they were passengers, driving a short distance and making the trade-off, prosecutors said.

Clients could also cut out the middleman by requesting “candy” at the register of Nana Deli on Wilson and Dekalb avenues, according to prosecutors.  

Investigators estimated that Rodriguez’ fleet received an average of 100 cocaine orders per day and earned about $28,000 per week.

Four accomplices — livery driver Jose Montalvo-Marti, 41, cocaine supplier Angela Martinez, 50, and dealers Anthony Quinones, 33, and Reymin Miguel Duran Reyes, 26  —  were also arrested on Oct. 19 and arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court, court documents show.

Each of the five defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, according to the DA.

Bail was set at $450,000 for Rodriguez, $150,000 for Montalvo-Marti, and $100,000 for Martinez, Quinnones and Reyes.

Neither Rodriguez’ attorney nor the Taxi Limousine Commission immediately responded to a request for comment.