More Than 65 Pounds Of Heroin Found Hidden Inside Truck Axle

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Two men have been arrested after they were caught hiding more than 65 pounds of heroin in the axle of a tractor trailer, prosecutors said.

Jorge Ayala of Greenwich, Connecticut and Fernando Quiles of Fort Worth, Texas were arrested Tuesday near a home they rented in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County.

"These are major traffickers who thought that they would get away with this, that they were so smart and they could hide up in Croton-on-Hudson where nobody would be looking for them," New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan told 1010 WINS. "And surprise, surprise; there we were."

The home was empty and unfurnished, and was solely used as a staging area for the alleged enterprise, according to officials.

"It would have been very noisy work," Brennan said. "They looked for a home that they could rent where they would be concealed and this particular home was on a large parcel of land, about an acre. It was wooded."

The arrests came following a three-month wiretap investigation.

Brennan said investigators believe the men were gong to sell the drugs -- which are believed to have originated in Mexico -- for up to $2.3 million to dealers in the city, Long Island and across the Northeast.

"This would probably produce three quarters of a million envelopes or packets of heroin, so that's a very significant seizure and it will mean that there's that much less heroin on the streets," Brennan said. "Unfortunately, we've been making a lot of very large seizures lately, but this one is going to put a big dent in the distribution of heroin for a while."

Ayala and Quiles were arraigned on drug charges and are being held without bail.

Neighbors Leslie and Bob Rose live across the street. They said the truck stood out like a sore thumb, but they didn't think much of it being here.

"Looked like a big truck. We just assumed they were the people moving out," Leslie told CBS2's Christine Sloan.

Still, they weren't shocked by what was going on.

"Not shocking, but strange. There is so much of this going on now that it doesn't surprise me. It can happen anywhere," Bob said.

Investigators said they found a narcotics ledger book inside along with tools a scale, and packaging material.