Man busted with 20,000 fentanyl pills set free: police sources
November 13, 2022
Manuel Pagon was released after he was charged for the possession
of "approximately 20,000 multi-colored M-30 fentanyl pills."
A man was busted with 20,000 “rainbow” fentanyl pills in Manhattan’s hip Chelsea neighborhood – and then released back to the street, police and sources said Sunday.
Manuel Pagan, 49, of Washington Heights was arrested with the multicolored drugs — which authorities say are used to target younger people — at West 30th Street and 11th Avenue around 2 p.m. Friday, cops said.
He was found in possession of “approximately 20,000 multi-colored M-30 fentanyl pills,” court records show.
Pagan was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, records show. He was then freed without bail, police sources said.
Under state law, the charge is now eligible for bail, after tweaks this year to the controversial 2019 criminal justice reforms that prohibit judges from setting bail in most criminal cases.
The new changes added several crimes to the bail-eligible list, including first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, which Pagan was hit with.
A rep for the city’s Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, which is handling the case, said it had requested that Pagan be held on $100,000 cash bail or a $250,000 bond at his arraignment but that he was released without bail.
The jurist who released him was Manhattan Judge James Clyne.
Clyne last year also freed a troubled homeless man without bail in the midst of a 36-hour crime spree by the suspect.
In that case, Augustin Garcia, 64, had first allegedly swiped a dozen cans of Coors Light beer from a Bronx bodega Nov. 21 and was freed by cops with a desk-appearance ticket.
A few hours later, he allegedly stole a straphanger’s backpack at knifepoint — but boasted to cops after his arrest, “I know I’m getting out, I have no record,” The Post reported at the time
Garcia, who sources said has no prior convictions, proved right.
He ended up in front of Clyne, who freed him on supervised release.
The suspect then allegedly stole another straphanger’s iPhone just hours later. He was eventually ordered by another judge to be hospitalized for a psych exam.
In Pagan’s case, Clyne also ordered supervised release for the drug suspect, meaning he is allowed to roam the streets while meeting certain conditions, which can include required check-ins.
Pagan is due back in court Dec. 15.
The DEA claims that the rainbow colored fentanyl pills are part of
a marketing scheme by Mexican drug cartels to drive addiction among
kids and young adults
Authorities have warned that drug peddlers are manufacturing the brightly colored fentanyl pills to target younger users.
Last month, a Manhattan Drug Enforcement Agency task force seized 15,000 rainbow fentanyl tablets stashed in a classic Lego toy set.
In September, cops in Connecticut also found a stash of fentanyl concealed in Skittles and Nerds candy packages.
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