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2 Suspects Face Charges After Police Find Heroin Mill At Brooklyn Candy Shop

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two suspects are in custody after police said a heroin mill was found in a hidden room inside a candy store in Brooklyn.

Hamdan Alsaidi, 33, of Queens, and Mohamad Ali, 46, of Manhattan, face multiple charges, including drug trafficking, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.

Police raided the Gates Candy & Grocery store in Bushwick on Thursday after state Taxation and Finance Department officers discovered a door to the hidden room Wednesday during an inspection for untaxed cigarettes.

Inside, the officers found large quantities of drugs and drug paraphernalia, police said.

A picture obtained exclusively by CBS2 shows plastic bags of what police believe is heroin and the powerful but deadly narcotic fentanyl.

Gates Candy Store Drug Bust
This picture shows plastic bags of what police believe is heroin, and the powerful but deadly narcotic fentanyl, confiscated by police at the Gates Candy store in Brooklyn. (CBS2 exclusive photo)

Another photo shows a table displaying boxes of glassine drug envelopes.

Gates Candy Store Drug Bust
This picture shows a table with boxes of glassine drug envelopes – enough, CBS2 is told, to package more than 1 million bags of heroin., confiscated by police at the Gates Candy store in Brooklyn. (CBS2 exclusive photo)

The NYPD also released photos showing scales, wholesale drug-packing materials and other paraphernalia that was confiscated.

The alleged operation "reflects how significant that problem has once again become around that particular drug," NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said.

People who live nearby the shop were stunned.

"It was shocking to almost everybody in the neighborhood," said resident William Morales. "They should just close it down and let someone take over the building and do something else with it."

"At face value, you see what you see, but you never know what's going on behind closed doors," said resident Benny Senises.

One nearby resident said the shop owners have been in trouble with the law in the past.

"A year and half ago, they busted it," Bushwick resident Junior Burgos said.

Officers on Thursday night sawed off the locks to the shop and installed new ones as they continue to scour the store for evidence.

On Friday morning, a man cleaning the storefront told Burrell the shop is once again open for business but refused to comment further.

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