14 DAY TRIAL // Police officers who were checking a noise complaint at an apartment in Flushing, Queens, came across a heroin dealer. What seemed to be a routine operation for the officers turned into a significant drug bust.
After a 311 call about a noisy neighbor who was playing the radio too loud, police went to 67-11 161st Street with the intention of issuing a warning, but they ended up arresting people.
Officers knocked on the door of the third-floor apartment and a man came to the door with a marijuana pipe in his hand. He appeared to be very detached and unconcerned. It was 49-year-old Frank Giardina, who even invited the cops into his home when they asked for his ID.
They were preparing to write the tenant a summons, when they noticed something more interesting than a weed pipe on the kitchen table: about five pounds (2.6 kg) of what looked like heroin. Strangely, the man let the police officers in like he had nothing to hide.
The cops immediately arrested Giardina and obtained a court-issued search warrant. They performed a more thorough search and found 1948 glassine bags of heroin, packing materials and packing equipment inside the man's house. The street value of the drugs has been estimated at about $400,000 (€287,914), according to New York Times.
Frank Giardina has been charged Sunday night with multiple counts of drug possession and intention to sell a controlled substance, as revealed by a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney’s office.
Authorities say Giardina had no prior arrests before this incident and he didn't seem to have a good explanation about the presence of the drugs in his house. His next court appearance was set for March 24, and he faces a minimum sentence of eight years in prison.
This is a significant drug bust for New York City, although the surprising find was made in a neighborhood not known as a hub for drug trafficking.
“There’s no dope around here that I know of. The only thing that bothers me as of late is that I can’t go to the store without getting hit up for money or a cigarette,” said a 61-year-old man who lives across the street from Giardina.
Statistics show that over the last four years, drugs seizures in New York State increased by 67 percent. The Drug Enforcement Administration seized about 317 pounds of heroin across the state last year.