Two convicted killers were nabbed with at least $20 million in cocaine stashed in luggage in a car outside a Long Island hotel — possibly the biggest drug bust in Nassau County history, authorities said Tuesday.
“It’s a lot of coke, you ain’t kidding,” county Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told The Post — as officials said they are now investigating how the accused murderous drug thugs ended up even back on the street after their slay convictions in Puerto Rico.
Michael Viera, 40, and Daniel Santana, 35, traveled from their homes in Florida to Nassau County for the massive drug deal outside the Plainview Holiday Inn on Thursday, picking up the nearly 700 pounds of coke before surveilling police swooped in and made the arrest just as the sale ended, authorities said.
Long Island officials stand before mounds and mounds of cocaine confiscated in possibly the largest drug bust in Nassau County history. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post
“We have here one of the largest, if not the largest, drug bust we’ve ever had,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told reporters as he stood behind a table displaying the truckload of confiscated narcotics.
Officials said they are unaware of the details of the Caribbean Island murders tied to the pair, who are originally from Puerto Rico and now living in Florida, or how and when they were freed.
“At this time, we do not have the information on how and why they were released,” Ryder told reporters, adding only that the men were both sentenced in Puerto Rico.
County narcotics officers were staking out the hotel, which officials said is a known hot spot for drug deals, because police received a tip about the deal, according to Ryder.
More than 700 pounds of cocaine was seized from the pair. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post
The seized cocaine is valued at about $20 million. Stefano Giovannini for NY PostAfter witnessing the illicit exchange, police pulled over Viera and Santana’s vehicle and found suitcases full of more than 300 kilos of coke, which officials said was worth at least $20 million wholesale and likely even closer to double that amount if the drugs were to be cut with baking soda or fentanyl.
Both men were charged with drug possession and arraigned Sunday, when they pleaded not guilty and were remanded without bail.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said she is trying to get the charges for both men upgraded to include drug-trafficking and operating as a major trafficker, which can carry a life sentence if convicted.
“There is no doubt about it, this [bust] saved lives because this didn’t get onto the streets to cause a fatal overdose to one of our children,” Donnelly said.
