Maybe the pills were intended to help numb the pain of the Superbowl loss.
An enterprising drug trafficker bought painkillers from pill dealers in Manhattan and then made millions a year reselling them at a huge mark-up in New England, authorities said.
Jose Garcia Acosta, 33, was nabbed Sunday on the Hutchinson River Parkway making a run to Boston — where he allegedly sold oxycodone on the black market for $40 a pop after paying peddlers in Washington Heights a mere $16 per pill, according to Special narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.
He allegedly had 3,100 pills that would’ve netted him $110,000 hidden in a secret compartment in his Honda Odyssey minivan. He was traveling with driver Vladimir Matos, 42, who was also arrested, officials added. Also in the vehicle was Matos’ sister and her 5-year-old son.
“Acosta distributed such a large quantity of pills that he fueled much of the market for prescription drug street sales in the Bronx and Washington Heights,” said police commissioner Ray Kelly.
Acosta allegedly scored the drugs from bundlers in Washington Heights and the Bronx.
The 14 suspects, ages 21 to 46, who operated that ring were charged with running “an open-air drug mall and drive-thru,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. DEA agents and NYPD cops seized 9,000 pills, $25,000 cash and hundreds of bottles of HIV medication.
“The suspects operated like a gang of street corner pharmacists, selling illegal prescription pills hand-to-hand between 156th and 158th streets,” added Kelly.