Drug and gun traffickers who overran a three block stretch of Upper Manhattan with their cocaine, ecstasy and weapons sales were busted Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney announced.
Seven men, with nicknames like "Pimples" and "Chocolaty," operated their ring in Inwood, selling high-powered guns and wholesale quantities of drugs to other narcotics dealers and street customers, according to a 106-count indictment.
Police undercovers bought 22 guns worth more than $27,000, as well as about $16,000 worth of cocaine and ecstasy from the ring over the course of a 10-month investigation, officials said.
"While crime is Manhattan is at a historic law, illegal guns -- which typically proliferate in symbiotic relation with drug trafficking, as in this case -- continue ot pose a serious threat to the safety of New York residents and the police," said Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau.
Authorities said the ring operated from West 212th to West 215th Streets between Broadway and Tenth Avenue, often conducting sales steps from an elementary school.
Police arrested four alleged traffickers and are looking for three others.
