Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor

80 CENTRE STREET, SIXTH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10013 212-815-0400, GEN 212-815-0440, FAX

Press Release
Friday, November 3, 2006
Magda Gandasegui, Director of Public Information
mgandasegui@specnarc.org
(212) 815-0525

DRUG DEALER NABBED WITH $9 MILLION WORTH OF COCAINE IN THE BRONX GETS 25-TO-LIFE

NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan today announced the sentencing of Eddie Badia to 25 years to life by Judge Edwin Torres. After a weeklong trial, Badia was convicted of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree on May 16, 2006. The defendant, along with associates Joselin Perez and Juan Carlos Aleman, smuggled 842 pounds of cocaine into the city. On September 29, 2003 police seized 16 suitcases containing the cocaine and $562,000 in cash from inside a van and a tractor-trailer parked in a garage at 886 East 149th Street in the Hunts Point Section of the Bronx. Authorities also recovered a 9mm automatic and a .45 caliber automatic.

The investigation, which was conducted by NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Manhattan North Major Case Unit and Special Narcotics prosecutors, revealed that the cocaine was transported in the tractor-trailer from Mexico. The narcotics were intended for distribution in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and the Bronx.

Badia was tried once before on this case. That trial resulted in a hung jury. Both Perez and Aleman were sentenced on December 14, 2005 to 25 years to life by Judge Edward McLaughlin after they were convicted by jury of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.

A tractor trailer traveled cross country from Mexico transporting over $9 million in cocaine. The truck was scheduled to transport drug money back to Mexican traffickers.