Cocaine seized from Erie County drug bust

The Erie County Sheriff’s Office said deputies watched two people at a hotel and a third suspect at Buffalo Niagara International Airport on January 18.

BUFFALO, NY – Three people are facing charges after law enforcement seized 30 pounds of cocaine during an investigation.

The Erie County Sheriff’s Office says deputies monitored two people at a hotel and a third suspect at Buffalo Niagara International Airport on January 18.

Investigators say they observed a California man, Timothy Tucker, 48, arrive on a flight from Detroit from Los Angeles and then depart in a vehicle to drive to a home in Buffalo.

Shortly after, investigators say they observed Chastity Banks and Loany Gato-Aronategui at a hotel and visiting the same Buffalo residence, an Airbnb on Pine Street.

Members of the Erie County SWAT team broke into the house and arrested Tucker and Gato-Aronategui. Deputies arrested Banks following a traffic stop in Buffalo.

The home and vehicle were searched by narcotics and intelligence officers, as well as the FBI, Safe Street Task Force and Buffalo police. Officers found 13 kilograms of bricks of cocaine in a secret compartment of the vehicle and one kilogram of cocaine in the garage in a bucket.

“At the time of the search warrant, I will say this, they were dismantling the vehicle to retrieve narcotics from the vehicle,” said DJ Granville, chief narcotics and intelligence officer with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

Tucker is charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 8 ounces or more, and one count of criminal possession of a narcotic with intent to sell.

Banks, 23, of Los Angeles, is charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 8 ounces or more, and one count of criminal possession of a narcotic with intent to to sell.

Gato-Aronategui, 19, of Henderson, Nevada, is also charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 8 ounces or more, and one count of criminal possession of a narcotic with intention to sell.

“This, here, if it gets to the street dealer, okay, is going to be cut with fentanyl, and other things too, okay, to make it more profitable, but when it’s cut with fentanyl, and a user doesn’t know it and snorts it thinking it’s just pure cocaine, which can kill you,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said.

All three defendants have been arraigned and are currently being held at the Erie County Detention Center.

“These individuals who are now charged, though innocent until proven guilty, would have walked through the door of the Buffalo courthouse and gone back to California, and God knows where from there, if the changes, the change sense had not been made to bail out reform,” Flynn said.

The investigation lasted more than three months. Before finding the 14 kilos of cocaine Wednesday night, prosecutors said investigators found two kilos of cocaine and six kilos of cocaine on two other occasions.

This totals over 48 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of over $2 million. Prosecutors believe the cocaine originated in Mexico and was driven to Buffalo via California in the SUV’s secret compartments.

“This drug pipeline they shut down is part of a transnational criminal organization also known as the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. This is proof that the problems on the southern border have reached Erie County. “said William Cooley, deputy sheriff of Erie County.

Prosecutors also say the investigation is far from over and there may be more arrests.

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