Trapdoor hides cache of narcotics at US daycare where child died

NEW YORK – Days after a one-year-old died and three children exposed to drugs at a Bronx daycare site were hospitalised, investigators uncovered a trapdoor under a play area that was concealing fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

Police had already discovered 1kg of fentanyl near nap mats at Divino Nino, a daycare centre in an apartment building in Morris Avenue, but the new search was triggered by a tip that more drugs had been hidden, Lieutenant John Russo said on Thursday.

Tiny daycare centres on ground floors of apartment buildings are a common sight in working-class neighbourhoods in New York. A neighbour said last week that the owners of the facility had spent months sprucing it up – including laying down new floors.

Last Saturday, the daycare programme operator, Grei Mendez, and a tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who lived in the apartment, were both arrested and charged with murder in the death of the toddler, Nicholas Feliz Dominici, as well as criminal possession of drugs and other related charges.

In addition to the fentanyl, police had already recovered two so-called kilo presses used by drug dealers to package large quantities of drugs.

As at Thursday afternoon, the Medical Examiner’s Office had not made an official determination of the cause of Nicholas’ death following an autopsy on Saturday. Fentanyl was found in the systems of the three children who were sickened.

The daycare site in north Bronx is among the areas hardest hit by fatal overdoses in the city. There were 2,668 fatal overdoses in New York City in 2021, reaching “unprecedented levels”, according to data released in 2023.

The increase was driven by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that was involved in 80 per cent of overdose deaths that year, and residents of the Bronx had the highest rate, the city found.

Mendez, a Dominican Republic citizen who has lived in the United States for nine years, and Acevedo Brito are also facing federal charges of one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and one count of conspiracy.

The police are still searching for a third person wanted in the case, Lt Russo said on Thursday.

Mendez was renting a room to Acevedo Brito, who is her husband’s cousin, for US$200 (S$273) a week, her lawyer, Mr Andres Aranda, said during her arraignment in the Bronx Criminal Court on Sunday, adding that there was no indication that she knew anything about the drugs.

“Her only crime is renting a room,” he said.

Federal prosecutors said Mendez called her husband twice before calling 911. A federal criminal complaint said that before emergency personnel arrived, the husband entered the apartment empty-handed and left about two minutes later carrying two shopping bags weighed down by their contents.

On Thursday, members of the police’s crime scene unit taped off the area.

Children played on the pavement and stood by the apartment building, where candles, flowers and a teddy bear were left outside the front door.

Investigators in white hazmat suits and industrial-grade masks entered the building and walked out hauling brown evidence bags.

The tip-off police received gave specific instructions on where to find the trapdoor and how to access it, Lt Russo said.

A photo released by police showed a storage compartment about 1.2m by 1.8m under a splintered wooden door. Large, clear storage bags filled with narcotics, as well as red Target shopping bags, were visible in the cache under a grey linoleum floor. A shelf holding toys was nearby.

Officials said the daycare programme was licensed in May to serve up to eight children at a time by the state’s Office of Children and Family Services after passing two inspections. In addition, a surprise inspection in September had found no violations.

Investigators this week said they were working with the federal authorities to determine whether Divino Nino was a front for a drug operation. NYTIMES