4 arrested in Northeast heroin bust

The 1960s dresser, found by city police in an Oxford Circle drug den during a Wednesday raid, was constructed of heavy wood and topped by a marble slab.

What distinguished the large piece of furniture was its purpose - heroin storage - and its sophisticated hydraulic system. The dresser, which opened and closed with a magnet, contained a "fake wall," behind which drug dealers stashed up to $1.1 million worth of heroin, said Capt. Debra Frazier.

The dresser "let us know what kind of operation they were running," Frazier said. "You got to be really savvy."

Four people were watching TV inside the home on Alcott Street near Large when police arrived, with the drugs in the open dresser, Frazier said. They had no idea that cops were on their tail, she said.

When police entered, they found the drugs, a .45-caliber Colt handgun, a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun and tens of thousands of plastic baggies.

The foursome were arrested and charged with conspiracy, drug and firearm charges: Edwin Medina, 46, of Willard Street near D in Kensington; Greilyn Colon, 25, of Marshall Street near West Pike in Fairhill; Nierkis Santos, 21, and Oscar Santos, 50, both of Sanger Street near Oakland, in Oxford Circle.

"It's the biggest confiscation and largest distribution of heroin in my nearly 20-year career," Frazier said. *