Fentanyl stash found in New York nursery days after toddler died from suspected overdose
Police have discovered a large quantity of fentanyl hidden in a nursery days after a toddler died from an apparent overdose from the opioid.
The owners of the New York nursery, Divino Nino, were concealing bags of the drug and other paraphernalia under a trap door in the children’s play area, authorities said.
The hidden compartment covered by plywood and tile flooring was only a few steps away from a shelf of kids’ toys, according to police photos.
The trapdoor was in the children’s play area. Pic: NYPD
This discovery comes days after a one-year-old boy, Nicholas Dominici, died from an apparent fentanyl overdose after attending the nursery.
Three other children also fell ill following the opioid exposure. They were revived after medics gave them the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.
Nicholas Dominici Pic: Facebook/Yeissy Dominici
The owner of the nursery, Grei Mendez, 36, and a tenant living in the building, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested on Saturday on charges of depraved indifference murder, assault and criminal possession of narcotics, including fentanyl.
Both face up to life in prison if convicted of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and one count of conspiracy.
Mendez claimed she had no knowledge of the highly potent drug being on the premises.
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Before the trap door drug raid, police had found a taped package containing several thousand dollars worth of fentanyl along with a kilo press – a device used to package large quantities of drugs – after executing a search warrant on the nursery, a home-based operation which opened in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx earlier this year.
The drug was found near a mat where the children had napped, Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, said on Monday.
A second press was found inside the adjoining room occupied by Brito, according to a criminal complaint.
Prosecutors said Mendez covered up the drugs operation on Friday afternoon, after realising that some of the children in her care were not waking up from their naps.
Before calling emergency services, she phoned her husband, authorities said.
He was seen on camera entering the facility moments later, then leaving through a back alley with multiple shopping bags.
Mendez’s lawyer said she had no knowledge of the operation, while suggesting that her husband was responsible for the drugs.
Authorities are still searching for Mendez’s husband who is also Brito’s cousin.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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