Jan. 18, 1962 - Raw heroin estimated to be worth $3,500,000 in the illicit market was found in the ceiling of a Brooklyn tenement today by Federal and city narcotics raiders. At least seven persons were arrested for questioning, including two Frenchmen. The cache was discovered after a detective had noticed two spots of wet plaster on the basement ceiling. He investigated, and out tumbled two plastic bags containing heroin. A quick search of the entire ceiling turned up 20 more half-kilogram packages and a small arsenal, including a Japanese submachine gun. The police said the heroin was intended for nationwide distribution. The two Frenchmen, who have been under surveillance for a month, were arrested in Manhattan. They were thought to have been the contacts between a courier and the Brooklyn house. One was described as a French television entertainer, the other a Paris nightclub owner. The agents said the heroin — about 24 pounds — had recently arrived in New York “aboard a luxury liner.” They said it had been taken directly to Brooklyn, where it was to have been diluted. The shipment was thought to have originated in Marseilles.
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