Now that’s a lot of drugs!
Not wanting to leave anything to chance as they bring an accused drug runner to trial for a third time, Manhattan prosecutors hauled an astounding 383 kilograms of cocaine in 16 suitcases into court Tuesday as evidence in the retrial of Eddie Badia, who was first arrested in The Bronx in 2003.
Badia, 56, of Clinton, NJ, and four others were arrested after cops raided a Hunts Point warehouse and seized $11 million worth of cocaine and more than $500,000 in cash.
On the second day of Badia’s new trial in Manhattan Supreme Court before Justice Melissa Jackson, one suitcase was opened, revealing the white powder packed in vacuum-sealed bricks. Several jurors left their seats to peer at the massive pyramid of blow.
Badia and his four cohorts were busted in 2003 after Manhattan North narcotics cops saw a tractor-trailer enter the warehouse on East 149th Street and then saw the cab of the truck leave a few minutes later.
The truck driver told cops he had just driven from Texas with 3,000 pounds of broccoli, according to court records.
After police executed a search warrant, they discovered 843 pounds of cocaine, $583,000 in cash and no broccoli. Authorities also recovered a 9mm handgun and a .45-caliber automatic.
Badia’s first trial, in 2005, ended in a hung jury.
He was convicted of two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance at his second trial and sentenced to 25 years to life in 2005, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.