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ENVIRONMENTAL CHARGES STEM FROM ILLEGAL COCAINE LAB
Release Date: 10/28/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1999
ENVIRONMENTAL CHARGES STEM FROM ILLEGAL COCAINE LAB
Harold Julio Fargas, also known as Harold Gresi, pleaded guilty in U.S. Northern District Court in New York on Oct. 22 to the illegal disposal of hazardous waste in a manner posing a danger of death or serious bodily injury to others and conspiracy to possess, distribute and manufacture cocaine. If the court accepts the terms of the plea agreement, Fargas will receive a sentence of 15 years for each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. The charges stem from the construction and operation of one of the largest cocaine manufacturing laboratories ever discovered in the United States. In 1985 in Minden, N.Y., Fargas and others constructed and operated a cocaine laboratory that exploded after only 11 days in operation. At the time that the laboratory exploded, approximately 250 55-gallon drums of ethyl ether (a chemical used in the manufacturing process) were abandoned. The fire from the laboratory explosion nearly ignited this extremely volatile hazardous waste, which had an explosive power of approximately 63,000 sticks of dynamite. Fargas was one of the leaders of the cocaine operation and he remained at large until recently. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
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