A nationwide ring that moved $2 million worth of California-grown pot a week through Kennedy Airport used exotic dancers from a Brooklyn strip joint as couriers, authorities said yesterday.
A yearlong undercover investigation ended with the announcement of 14 arrests and the seizure of 2,000 pounds of marijuana headed for the streets of New York and other East Coast cities.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the “Warehouse” ring was run by Patrick Anthony Brown of Brooklyn – who is known in the weed business as “The Fat Man.”
Patrick Anthony Brown recruited drug “mules,” said Brown, “including a group of exotic dancers he knew from a club he frequented,” called The Warehouse at 1370 Ralph Ave., in Brooklyn.
Port Authority Police Superintendent Fred Morrone said Patrick Brown “did business and entertainment” at The Warehouse.
Morrone said authorities are investigating a murder that may be tied to the case.
Three of the arrested women were identified as exotic dancers at The Warehouse – Brandy Halloway, 20, of Hartford, Conn.; Annette Eschoe, 32, of Elizabeth Avenue, Brooklyn; and Marshallet Smith, 22, of 106th Avenue, Jamaica, Queens.
Investigators said five more individuals are still under investigation as possible drug runners.