Feb. 25, 1962 - New York City detectives and Federal narcotics agents seized pure heroin worth $20 million last night after subduing a longshoreman in a Bronx tenement. Edward F. Carey, deputy chief inspector of the New York Narcotics Bureau, called the seizure “the second largest ever made by law-enforcement agencies in this country.” The heroin, weighing 88 pounds, was in 66 plastic packets in three plaid airline canvas bags. The suspect was identified as Anthony Fuca (pictured third from right), 31, of 1171 Bryant Avenue, the Bronx. The police said he had been free on $22,500 bail on charges of illegal possession of narcotics and a gun in connection with a narcotics raid on his father’s house in Brooklyn on Jan. 18. Twenty-four pounds of heroin were found then above wet plaster in the basement ceiling. The police also found a small arsenal, including a Japanese submachine gun. Later that same day, two Frenchmen were arrested in Manhattan. The police said both men had recently arrived from Marseilles and had been observed making contacts in Brooklyn. They were later charged with conspiracy and illegal possession of narcotics. Inspector Carey said the heroin confiscated both in that raid and in the one last night had been smuggled into this country in compartments of a French-made auto shipped on a French vessel from Le Havre. After being taken to the Simpson Street police station last night, Fuca was questioned and charged with illegal possession of narcotics with intent to sell.
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