A Colombian gang that pumped millions of dollars’ worth of heroin into the city by stuffing it into cheap couches tried to duck the law by using the “save draft” function on a shared e-mail account.
The idea was to avoid detection by never actually sending e-mail messages about shipments and other matters related to deals, investigators said.
“It’s pretty clever,” said New York special-narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan, whose team, joined by the NYPD, State Police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration, last week announced the arrest of two brothers in Colombia and their partner in Queens and seized 35 pounds of heroin, the biggest seizure in a year.
“They thought if they never sent an e-mail, there would be no transmission, and law enforcement would not be able to intercede. We had speculated about that, but I’ve never seen it before.”
The drugs, with a potential street value of up to $25 million, were wrapped in 34 packages, packed into gaudy orange couches, and shipped in a freight container to Miami, where they were to be picked up and brought to New York.
Brothers Luis Fernando Galleano Gasca and Geomar Richard Galleano Gasca were nailed in Colombia and hauled to New York. Their local contact, Jairo Patino, was also busted.