Authorities allege that a Brooklyn mailman was caught making special deliveries of kilograms of cocaine while on the duty.
Friday in Brooklyn Federal Court, 35-year-old letter carrier Zarwardy Lewis was charged with drug distribution after the US Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General alleged he delivered at least three packages of cocaine to Brooklyn locations in December.
Special Agent Kyle Knieste stated in court papers that the investigation began when officials discovered approximately two kilograms of cocaine in a package originating from the Caribbean and bound for Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The package, which has a street value of approximately $60,000 according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, was one of three parcels investigators tracked that came from the same sender, all with Bed-Stuy delivery addresses, and Lewis delivered the other two packages while working his route.
According to court documents, Lewis received $500 in electronic payments from Evangeline Nery each time he delivered one of the packages.
Investigators initiated surveillance on Lewis on January 26 and observed him make another suspected cocaine drop from his mail truck near the Atlantic Terminal mall in Fort Greene.
Knieste said that there, investigators observed Nery, 45, of the Bronx giving Lewis an empty plastic bag before entering the mall.
According to court documents, Nery then emerged from the shopping center and collected the bag from Lewis’ truck, but this time the bag appeared to contain a huge brick-like object.
Later, investigators discovered one kilogram of cocaine in the bag, and a search of Nery’s iPhone revealed messages with images, postal receipts, and parcels similar to those Lewis was delivering, according to Knieste.
Lewis was caught and allegedly confirmed to agents that he provided the cocaine for $500 each shipment to Nery.
In relation to the plan, both Nery and Lewis have been charged with cocaine distribution.
According to court documents, Lewis, who was recruited by USPS in 2013, was freed the day following his arrest on a $100,000 bond while Nery was released on a $50,000 bond.
Matthew Galluzo, Lewis’s attorney, declined to comment on the matter.
Nery was unavailable for comment.