Story by Ethan
On September 23rd, 2025, the arrest of Chris Alecia Rodriguez, age 28, was announced by Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. Chris Alecia Rodriguez was charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker, first-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, second-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, two counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, seventh-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, and second-degree Conspiracy before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. The arrest and charges against Chris Alecia Rodriguez were a result of an investigation handled by the Homeland Security Investigations New York, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, Assistant District Attorney Cole McKee of the Special Investigations Bureau, and the HSI JFK Joint Narcotics Smuggling Unit (NYPD Detective Demetrios Kekatos and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigator James Trudden).
According to the Bronx County Prosecutor’s Office, a package that arrived at the JFK Airport with a destination of a package store at 1567 Watson Avenue in Bronx, New York on March 18th, 2025. The package was marked for having cocaine detected, and when Chris Alecia Rodriguez went to pick up the package at approximately 3:25 p.m., he was arrested while attempting to exit the store. Upon further inspection, the package was found to contain a cooler with 11-pounds of cocaine with a street value totaling to approximately $1.5 million dollars. Detectives also found that Chris Alecia Rodriguez was in possession of a plane ticket to Puerto Rico. During questioning Chris Alecia Rodriguez claimed to have been paid $500 by a party to go and pick up the package for them, being told that it contained food. However after Chris Alecia’s phone was searched with a court-authorized search warrant, messages were found of discussion about shipping cocaine between Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and the United States on several other occasions.
The Bronx County Prosecutor’s Office stated that the charges against Chris Alecia are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
