Ex-NYPD officer charged with selling fentanyl and heroin on-duty, prosecutors say
A former New York Police Department officer is now facing charges of selling fentanyl and heroin, with prosecutors even saying she negotiated drug deals while on the job.
Grace Rosa Baez, 37, of the Bronx, was arrested last Thursday and is charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl and three counts of narcotics distribution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a news release Friday.
Cesar Martinez, 43, of Yonkers, faces identical charges, prosecutors said. Martinez and Baez shared an apartment, according to the news release.
According to NBC News, Baez resigned from the NYPD on Sunday. She had been an officer with the department since 2012, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that Baez and Martinez had numerous conversations with a confidential source working with law enforcement regarding "wholesale narcotics trafficking" beginning on or about Oct. 9.
On Oct. 16, Baez met the confidential source in Yonkers near the apartment she shared with Martinez. Prosecutors allege that during the meeting, Baez handed the confidential source a plastic candy container and indicated there was a fentanyl sample inside.
The bottle contained a small, clear bag filled with a white powdery substance, which was later tested and confirmed to be fentanyl, prosecutors said.
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The discovery
After Baez's arrest Thursday, law enforcement officers approached the apartment she and Martinez shared and saw a package of suspected narcotics "being thrown from inside the apartment to outside the apartment," prosecutors said.
Inside the apartment, officers discovered a kilogram press machine, as well as additional suspected narcotics that Martinez had apparently attempted to throw outside.
"Grace Rosa Baez took an oath to protect and serve the people of New York City. As alleged, she flagrantly violated that oath by pushing poison, including fentanyl and heroin, which are driving the nation's deadly opioid crisis and have been responsible for thousands of tragic deaths in this city and around the nation," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in the news release.
"My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue those peddling these deadly poisons – no matter who they are," Williams said.
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