ENGLEWOOD, NJ — An Englewood man is facing drug charges after investigators seized more than 580 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $10 million at a Queens storage facility, authorities said.
Nelson Salcedo, 35, was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 26, after agents tracked him to a self-storage facility in Long Island City and allegedly watched him load cardboard boxes into a Nissan van.
Investigators recovered approximately 266 kilograms of suspected cocaine from 19 boxes, according to the New York Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. The seizure is believed to be the largest single cocaine cache recovered by the office in 20 years.
Prosecutors said the cocaine was destined for distribution in Manhattan and New Jersey. The investigation involved the DEA’s New Jersey Field Division, New Jersey State Police, Port Authority Police Department and NYPD, and was tied to an earlier drug-trafficking investigation conducted with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
Investigators had allegedly monitored Salcedo for two weeks. The complaint says he was seen making two earlier deliveries near Central Park, with another Wednesday delivery leading investigators to the Queens facility.
Salcedo was charged with first- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. The cocaine was still awaiting laboratory analysis.



