Five bags of cocaine weighing a total of five kilograms were seized last night in Manchester.
Police acting on a tip arrested two men with the cocaine in the parking lot of the Wendy's on Spencer Street.
"It happened so fast we kind of caught 'em off guard and took em by surprise," said Lt. Chris Davis of Manchester Police, "so they were pretty much at a loss for words."
Two cousins are charged with possession of the cocaine and conspiracy to sell it. Franklin Payano, 33, who said he lives in a beachfront high-rise in Hollywood, Florida, and Luis Payano, 41, who calls a Bronx apartment home.
The cocaine is worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars if sold uncut, but Davis said if it were cut and sold on the street it would fetch one million dollars.
"This represents a huge seizure of cocaine that would be hitting the streets of Manchester and surrounding towns in the Greater Hartford area," said Davis.
