200 firearms recovered during New York operation that took down Queens gunrunning crew: report

A Queens-based gun trafficking ring was dismantled, leading to the recovery of nearly 200 firearms, including 11 assault weapons, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday.

According to QNS.comThe 579-count indictment accuses Deundre Wright, 32, Abner Sparkes, 31, and Ethan Charles, 22, of trafficking and selling assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The three face 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors say a multi-agency investigation recovered 184 guns during the operation, which were allegedly transported from North Carolina to Queens, the report said.

“The majority of gun crimes in New York City are illegally trafficked from other states with lax gun laws along the Iron Pipeline and fuel deadly gun violence in our communities,” James said. “This investigation has stopped a major gun trafficking operation that brought a flood of dangerous weapons, including assault weapons, from North Carolina into New York City in just a few months.”

The investigation revealed that Wright would travel by bus from Manhattan to North Carolina and back from March to July 2024, storing the firearms in luggage. After bringing the guns to New York, Wright would take them to friends’ homes and leave them parked at the homes, the report said.

Wright would reportedly set prices at $1,000 to $2,500 per gun, while Sparkes, who would meet a customer in a car, would conduct the sale in Cambria Heights and bring cash to Wright parked nearby to monitor the transactions , the report said.

“Today’s indictment is a stark reminder that high-powered, illegal firearms continue to proliferate and circulate in our communities, and NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners do the dangerous work of keeping them from ending up on the streets into the hands of criminals. said Thomas Donlon, interim commissioner of the NYPD.