NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 10, 2025) — A suspicious hotel fire led New Rochelle police to uncover a major drug operation, resulting in the arrest of a suspect linked to a sophisticated cocaine and fentanyl manufacturing ring.
SEE: Hotel Fire Exposes Drug Lab in New Rochelle
On April 6, 2025, at approximately 9:19 p.m., New Rochelle Police Department officers responded to a fire at the Marriott Residence Inn at 35 LeCount Place. The blaze, originating in a seventh-floor room, was contained by the hotel’s fire suppression system but caused extensive flooding across the floor. Initial findings revealed evidence of a clandestine drug lab, including cocaine and materials indicating the suspect was processing it into crack cocaine.
Detectives traced the suspect to a hospital in Queens, where he was receiving treatment for burns to his right arm, torso, and foot.
Identified as Pedro Marte, 47, of New York, N.Y., he was arrested after being transferred to another medical facility and remains in stable condition. Marte is currently held in custody at Westchester County Jail while receiving treatment.
The investigation escalated when leads pointed to a storage facility rented by Marte in New Rochelle. On April 8, 2025, detectives executed a search warrant at the facility, uncovering a substantial haul: a five-foot kilo press, numerous kilo stamps, approximately 3 kilograms of cocaine, one half ounce of fentanyl, a large quantity of cutting agents, drug packaging materials, acetone, multiple scales, and additional paraphernalia.
A five-foot kilo press is a large mechanical device used to compress powdered substances, such as cocaine, into dense, uniform kilogram-sized bricks, often for the purpose of drug manufacturing and trafficking. Standing approximately five feet tall, this type of press is typically employed in illicit operations to package drugs efficiently for storage, transport, or distribution. In the context of drug production, it applies significant force to powdered narcotics, mixed with cutting agents if present, to form solid, compact blocks—commonly referred to as “kilos”—that are easier to handle and conceal.
NOTE: The featured image in this article is a Kilo press seized during a June 2017 takedown of a West Virginia drug distribution conspiracy.
Such presses are not exclusive to any one region but are a known tool in global drug trafficking networks, valued for their ability to standardize product weight and shape, often stamped with markings for identification.
Unlike smaller pill presses used for tablet production, a kilo press is designed for bulk compression rather than individual doses, making it a key asset in large-scale drug enterprises rather than pharmaceutical settings. Its size and capacity distinguish it from tabletop or handheld devices, aligning it with industrial-scale illicit manufacturing.
“This discovery points to a sophisticated drug manufacturing and distribution operation linked to the suspect,” the New Rochelle Police Department stated in a press release.
Upon his release from medical care, Marte is expected to face enhanced charges, including Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 1st Degree and an A-II Felony, reflecting the scale of the operation.
The investigation remains ongoing. Authorities urge anyone with information to contact the New Rochelle Police Department’s non-emergency line at (914) 654-2300 or submit anonymous tips at (914) 632-COPS.
