#Surge in meth seizures shows NYC turning into ‘breaking bad’

Federal agents have been seizing an increased amount of methamphetamine in New York City and the surrounding area, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration told The Post on Tuesday.

The surge of the illicit stimulant into the Big Apple comes amid a proliferation of meth labs in Mexico feeding organizations in the Midwest — and even in the Northeast, acting DEA Administrator Timothy Shea said.

“That is a hideous drug with no treatment, so we have to do everything we can to stop the growth of meth labs,” he said.

DEA statistics show 25 kilos of meth were seized in the New York-metro area in June, a 25 percent increase over the 20 kilos seized at the same time last year.

During an interview at the DEA’s New York Division headquarters in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Shea — who was appointed head of the agency in May — said he’d just toured the facility’s lab and learned that meth was being discovered in illicit opioid pills.

The two-drug combination — a version of which, involving cocaine and heroin, killed “Saturday Night Live” comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley — is known as a “speedball,” but it’s unknown if the pills seized by the DEA were being marketed as such, Shea said.

“Methamphetamine is one of the most profitable drugs,” he said.

The local meth seizures coincide with a shortage of other street drugs due to the coronavirus crisis with a crackdown on “non-essential” travel between Mexico and the US, Shea said.

As a result, he said, smugglers haven’t been able to sneak enough pills and powders across the border to satisfy the appetites of local druggies.

“There was still a demand for the drugs, but because of the limited supply, we saw a price increase,” Shea said.

“We saw heroin up by 40 percent, cocaine by 60 to 70 percent, fentanyl and meth 25 percent.”

Shea acknowledged an exclusive Post report last month about the seizure of $16 million in drug proceeds during April and May, compared to just $5 million the same time period last year.

“We saw a stockpiling of drugs on the Mexico side and a stockpiling of money — cash — on the American side,” he said.

And he hailed the charges in Brooklyn federal court this week against the son of reputed Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero.

An alleged leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Quintero — known as RCQ — is accused in the infamous, 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

“Today’s arrest gets us closer to RCQ,” Shea said.

“That is one of our main priorities — to arrest him and also to arrest anyone who’s helping him.”