Oct. 25, 2024 By Bill Parry A Southeast Queens gun trafficking crew was taken down, and nearly 200 firearms, including 11 assault weapons, were recovered, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday. The 579-count indictment charges Deundre Wright, 32, of Jamaica, and Abner Sparkes, 31, and Ethan Charles, 22, both from Cambria Heights,…
Jul. 17, 2024 By Bill Parry New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday the takedown of a prolific Queens-based gun trafficking crew accused of selling firearms and ammo at an East Elmhurst playground, the Queens Center Mall and other locations around the borough. James secured a 625-count indictment charging five men for participating…
Jan. 18, 2024 By Bill Parry Members of a Far Rockaway drug and gun trafficking operation were indicted following a six-month investigation that included a series of undercover drug buys and the tracking of several defendants’ phones resulting in the seizure of 10 firearms, including ghost guns, and a kilo of cocaine, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday. An additional four defendants are being prosecuted on weapons and drug paraphernalia charges in connection to the operation following the execution of search warrants. “Long and complex investigations are essential to getting guns and drugs off our streets,” Katz said. “The…
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Nov. 6, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan A seven-month investigation into an interstate gun trafficking ring spanning from Cincinnati to an Astoria parking lot resulted in the seizure of over 100 guns and the indictment of three individuals. Over the course of five meetups with an undercover police officer at the P.C. Richard & Son parking lot on Steinway Street in Astoria this summer, the defendants sold a total of 97 firearms, including 17 assault weapons. The purchases by the plainclothes cop totaled $124,000 at approximately $1,200 per gun. “Guns and the recovery of weapons on the streets of Queens are…
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Aug. 8, 2023 By Bill Parry A Jamaica woman was sentenced on Aug. 7 to a decade in prison for being the ringleader of a gang that sold illegal guns and ammunition brought to Queens from the south along the notorious “Iron Pipeline” via Interstate 95, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Jessica Heylinger,…
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Jun. 13, 2023 Anthony Medina
Eight men are facing major drug and gun trafficking charges after a year-and-a-half-long investigation that led to the seizure of more than $1 million in narcotics, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday, June 13.