What to Know
- Three individuals -- two from New York and one from South Carolina -- were charged in a 438-count indictment in connection to a gun trafficking operation that shipped ghost guns to New York and Pennsylvania from various online retailers, New York Attorney General Letitia James and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force jointly announced Thursday.
- The indictment charges the trio with with trafficking numerous ghost guns — weapons without serial numbers or any other identifying markers — including assault weapons, machine guns, and semiautomatic pistols, according to James' office.
- Thursday's takedown came after a six-month joint investigation between the Office of the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Three individuals -- two from New York and one from South Carolina -- were charged in a 438-count indictment in connection to a gun trafficking operation that shipped ghost guns to New York and Pennsylvania from various online retailers, New York Attorney General Letitia James and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force jointly announced Thursday.
The indictment charges the trio with with trafficking numerous ghost guns — weapons without serial numbers or any other identifying markers — including assault weapons, machine guns, and semiautomatic pistols, according to James' office. The gun trafficking operation also sold rapid-fire modification devices, silencers, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. In total, the investigation led to the recovery of 57 firearms, 51 of which were ghost guns, James' office said.
“I will not allow our streets to be flooded with ghost guns, assault rifles, or other weapons of war,” James said in a statement. “Giving criminals easy access to illegal and untraceable guns is a threat to all New Yorkers and a danger that my office will not tolerate. High-capacity ammunition magazines and rapid-fire modification devices can easily turn firearms into mass-murder machines. I thank our partners in law enforcement for their support and coordination as we work to protect the safety and well-being of all New Yorkers.”
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According to prosecutors, Thursday's takedown came after a six-month joint investigation between the Office of the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force comprised of officers of the NYPD, the New York State Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The months-long probe allegedly included hundreds of hours of physical and covert surveillance, court-authorized wiretapping of numerous target phones, and undercover operations.
The investigation allegedly revealed that two individuals ordered ghost gun parts from an out-of-state online firearm retailers and had them shipped to an address in Pennsylvania. One of them then trafficked the parts to New York for assembly and sale.
OCTF and its partners executed search warrants at the residences of two of the accused, both in Suffolk County, as well as one of their job sites in Queens County. Recovered during Thursday’s search warrants were 3 Polymer 80 9mm ghost guns, including 1 equipped with a rapid fire modification device, numerous high-capacity magazines, including ones designed for AR-15 assault rifles, silencers, firearm component parts, including AR-15 and 9mm “lower receivers” and “upper receivers,” threaded barrels, drill kits, Polymer 80 and AR-15 “molds”, assembly tools, pistol jigs, and additional ammunition, prosecutors said.
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The three defendants were charged with various counts of criminal sale of a firearm, criminal sale of a ghost gun, criminal possession of a weapon, and conspiracy for their participation in the illegal gun trafficking operation.
The investigation resulted in the recovery of the following firearms and ammunition from the three individuals:
- 57 firearms, 51 of which were ghost guns
- 38 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols
- Nine 5.56-milimmeter semi-automatic AR-15 style assault weapons
- Two .40-caliber semi-automatic pistols
- One .45 caliber revolver
- Eighteen firearms outfitted with rapid fire modification devices, making them fully-automatic machine guns
- Forty-six high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, including one 100 round drum magazine
- Three silencers
- Over 800 rounds of ammunition
“Today’s charges show that some criminals believe they can operate with impunity, in plain sight — the NYPD and our law enforcement partners exist to shatter that notion,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said. “I commend and thank everyone involved in this extremely important joint investigation. And I assure New Yorkers that our combined efforts will remain precisely focused on holding fully accountable anyone who peddles illegal guns on our streets.”
