A Bronx drug operation was taken down by members of city, state and federal agencies in "Operation Siesta." DEA agent Wilbert Plummer said, "Innocent men, women and children had to live in fear of the drug dealers who used 11 apartments to stash, sell, and cook drugs for street level sales." Fifteen people were arrested, including alleged leader Jose Delorbe, and $175,000 in cash, two illegal guns and 14 pounds of heroin and cocaine were found in hidden compartments in 11 Bronx apartments.
The Post says the operation "was selling several pounds of coke and heroin a day out of a large housing complex they’d commandeered — drawing so much traffic they even had valet parking." And, according to the NY Times, the dealers "knew what the unmarked police cars looked like, down to their license plate numbers and the dents in their bodies." Delorbe sold 1-2 kilos of drugs from Colombia and the Dominican Republic daily, making $30,000-150,000 a week.
Residents were relieved—they told NY1, "It got to be so bad that I'm scared to come in my apartment," and "It's always a pleasure to see the cops come in and do this. Let them do their work."
