More than 10,000 bags of heroin found in car in Tarrytown

A routine traffic stop in Tarrytown led police to find more than 10,000 bags of heroin hidden in the vehicle, police said.

Carolyn Claudio of Yonkers and Julio Vargas of New York City had nine bags of heroin on them and were arrested Tuesday by the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol Task Force, according to the Tarrytown police. A further search revealed the massive drug cache in the vehicle.

Claudio and Vargas were both charged with first- and second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, all felonies, police said. They were arraigned Wednesday and remanded to the Westchester County jail without bail, police said, and are due back in court on April 22.

Members of the task force stopped their vehicle for an unsafe lane change, police said. Authorities were suspicious after Claudio, 45, and Vargas, 48, gave conflicting accounts of what they were doing and where they were going, police said.

State police from Somers sent a K-9 dog, which detected drugs in part of the vehicle, police said. After obtaining a search warrant with the help of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, authorities found a concealed area of the vehicle commonly referred to as a "trap," police said.

Police said they found 10,683 bags of heroin in the secret area, as well as stamping devices that were used to label the bags. The heroin weighed about 1.2 pounds and had an estimated street value of $250,000, police said.

The drug has led to a string of recent arrests in the area, as well as a movement to train community members in life-saving techniques that can counter heroin's deadly effects.

Twitter: @MattSpillane