Suspected fentanyl pill mill busted near Bronx day care: DEA

BELMONT, the Bronx (PIX11) – An apparent fentanyl pill mill located near a day care in the Bronx was raided by law enforcement on Thursday, Drug Enforcement Administration officials said. 

The suspected pill mill was busted in a home at 2337 Beaumont Ave. in Belmont around 4:30 p.m., DEA officials said. Four men were taken into custody with charges pending, according to authorities.

The suspected pill mill was being run next-door to a day care, federal law enforcement sources said.

"There's a lot of kids, a head start right here next to where they're doing their thing at. I'm happy. Get them all," said neighbor Ray Rodriguez, who saw a SWAT team arresting the suspects. "You see them storming in like storm troopers."

The late-afternoon raid was spearheaded by the DEA and Homeland Security. An 11-year-old girl and her family were evacuated from their apartment upstairs.

Clad in white hazmat suits and face masks, federal drug teams removed boxes of evidence from the nondescript, split-level home. Two industrial pill presses were found at the location, according to the DEA.

Residents in the area told PIX11 News they witnessed suspicious activity in recent weeks with a lot of packages being delivered to the location. Postal inspectors were at the scene Thursday to investigate whether drugs were being shipped in the mail.

The raid happened the same day that three people were indicted in the fentanyl death of a 1-year-old boy who was allegedly exposed to the drug at the Divino Niño day care in the Bronx in September.

The operator of the Divino Niño day care was allegedly involved in a drug operation and used the facility to hide it, according to authorities. Investigators found a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of children’s playmats at the day care, as well as large quantities of suspected narcotics in hidden trap door compartments in the floor of the room where the children played and slept, authorities said.

Another drug mill was busted last week in the Bronx, located just six blocks away from the Divino Niño day care, DEA officials said. The drug mill was discovered in an apartment at 2800 Heath Ave. in Kingsbridge Heights, according to the DEA. Law enforcement officers seized over 40 pounds of fentanyl in the bust.

"For years, our community here in the Bronx has been the hub for fentanyl distribution and has suffered so many deaths," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said Thursday. "Since 2019, the overdose rate has more than doubled in the Bronx."