Pizza Delivery Man for Papa John's Chain Is Also A Cocaine Delivery Man

A Papa John's employee in Brooklyn was busted for delivering pizza pies with a side order of coke - and not the carbonated kind, officials said Thursday, according to the New York Daily News.

Papa John's deliveryman Ramon Rodriguez, 45, dropped off cocaine orders along with his pizza deliveries for years as he made the rounds in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, delivering pizza, cheesesticks and buffalo wings, police told the News.

Investigators said his drugs were often packaged in Papa John's menus, pizza boxes or an insulated pizza delivery bag, the News reported.

The high-flying pizza slinger was nabbed Wednesday after he sold undercover police officers a kilo of blow worth $27,500 during a pizza run, officials said.

Rodriguez sold cocaine to undercover NYPD narcotics cops on 19 different occasions beginning in the fall of 2011, the NYPD and New York City's Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office said.

The $27,500 score was his biggest sale yet, the Daily News reported.

During many of the transactions, Rodriguez wore his red Papa John's polo shirt, officials said.

He also met with undercover "buyers" in front of his store on Fifth Ave. near 58th St.

Cops searched Rodriguez's home on Ninth Ave. near 63rd St. after his arrest, finding about $4,500 in cash and some drug paraphernalia. A small amount of cocaine was found in his car, officials said.

Rodriguez's co-workers couldn't believe cops' claims. The father of four was always cash-strapped, they said.

"He used to hit us for money for food and gas," said Mohammad Ali, 24, the manager of the Sunset Park Papa John's. "We were always giving him $20 to $30 at a time."

Rodriguez worked at the Sunset Park Papa John's for two years and had previously worked at other locations in the chain, Ali said.

"He was a nice guy . . . a good guy," Ali said. "He was the best driver I got. He was clean, never high."

Fellow deliveryman Yaser Sal, 21, agreed.

"He was the sweetest guy you ever knew," he said. "He made everybody laugh."