They probably didn’t get the idea from Martha Stewart Living.
Two thugs were cooking up more than dinner when police stormed their Queens drug den — and discovered more than 18 pounds of cocaine stashed in an oven and a dresser, authorities said yesterday.
Nearly $70,000 in cash also was found — neatly tucked into the pockets of an over-the-door closet shoe organizer next to several pairs of sneakers, officials said.
“They had cocaine in an oven. Obviously, they must have ordered a lot of takeout,” one law-enforcement source quipped.
Crime-scene photos of the Jackson Heights home’s kitchen showed a stack of menus sticking out of a drawer near a gas-range stove that had pots on the burners — and bricks of what was said to be cocaine on the oven racks.
Investigators also discovered a secret compartment on the back of the dresser that contained even more coke, according to officials.
Also in investigators’ haul were cooking utensils, a solution used to dilute cocaine, a digital scale, a steel press, grinders, plastics bags, knives, razors and respirator masks, which are often used as protection when handling narcotics.
Prosecutors yesterday unsealed an indictment against Wilmar Florez-Jimenez, 30, who lived at the home, and Alvaro Montoya, 51, of Elizabeth, NJ.
They were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court on charges of drug possession and using drug paraphernalia, said the city’s special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget Brennan.
State Police investigators had been doing surveillance on the 81st Street home and discovered the mother lode of drugs after spotting Montoya taking out trash bags and stuffing them into a Chevy Envoy SUV on May 14.
The bags contained hollowed-out tires, which officials believe were used to ferry the drugs.