According to records, one alleged drug dealer has been arrested 20 times in two years in Manhattan for dealing crack, heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs, but he has been released each time.
“He is the worst drug dealer in New York City,” a police source said of Bruce Hunter, who is 20 years old.
“He just laughs.” He says, “I am leaving anyway.” It does not matter.'”
An arrest report says Hunter was most recently caught on October 27 selling crack at 6:50 p.m. on West 37th Street and Ninth Avenue in Midtown.
The complaint says that a customer gave him money, and Hunter “threw him a small plastic vial, which the unknown person retrieved.”
In Hunter’s right jacket pocket, police found 84 vials of crack cocaine. In his left pocket, they found 39 glassines of heroine and a rock of crack cocaine, according to the complaint.
Hunter was given supervised release for the drug possession charge, according to Kati Cornell, a spokeswoman for the Special Narcotics Prosecutors Office.
Since two years ago, all drug cases brought by patrol officers in the Midtown South Precinct have been taken care of by the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office.
This is because of “serious concerns about open and disruptive street dealing in the area, as well as high rates of overdose,” Cornell said.
Records show this is the second time Hunter has been arrested in the same area.
An indictment says that he was caught around 9 a.m. on May 4, 2023, at the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 38th Street.
He had 10 empty vials of alleged crack cocaine and loose crack cocaine in his jacket pocket, 51 vials of alleged crack cocaine in his pants pocket, and $59 on him.
He admitted on February 7 that he tried to have drugs with the intent to sell them. As a result, he was sent to Rikers Island for nine months, which included all of his other open cases, Cornell said.
Only five months in jail, he got out on July 25. Three weeks later, on August 9, records show he was caught again.
A police report says that Hunter, whose nickname is “Peanut,” had $146 on him, along with six blue glassines of suspected heroin in a black baggie and one clear bag of suspected crack cocaine.
At his arraignment on August 9, Judge Valentina Morales, who is known for being very easygoing, said that Hunter had just gotten out of jail. Last year, she let go of a Venezuelan immigrant without bail after he allegedly stabbed a tourist in Times Square.
The judge wrote that she said, “I am concerned about the new allegations since he was just released.”
In the end, Moralez let Hunter go on supervised release. Hunter’s lawyer did not answer the phone when calls were made to ask for comment.
Hunter was caught again less than three months after his last arrest. According to court records, he is now being considered for a drug treatment program.
The police source said, “But he does not use drugs.” “That guy sells drugs!”