NYC Drug Dealers Disguised Their Cars as Ubers to Avoid Suspicion, Police Say
The disguise reportedly was designed to let them sit idle for extended periods without people catching on.
Talk about an uber-clever idea. A group of drug dealers in New York City disguised their cars as Uber vehicles, police say, in order to avoid suspicion while they waited around for buyers.
According to The New York Post, on Tuesday, a Drug Enforcement Agency strike force nabbed at least four drug dealers using fake Uber signs and logos to camouflage their actions while selling heroin and cocaine in Manhattan and The Bronx. Police said two other people were caught last week as part of the same operation, which police called “Uber Connect.”
Police also seized at least five vehicles in the bust, the Post reported, as well as allegedly capturing the pushers with a kilogram of cocaine and more than $22,000 in hard currency.
The drug dealers placed the ripoff Uber logos on the upper corner of their windshield, according to authorities, thus making them appear almost identical to cars with drivers actually working for the Silicon Valley ride-hailing service. (It's unclear whether the dealers also equipped their cars with the Taxi & Limousine Commission license plates required for all Uber drivers in NYC.)
The drug ring, according to the post, reportedly had more than 100 customers across the two boroughs.