Police Arrest Fourteen in the Bronx
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Law enforcement officials arrested 14 people yesterday on gun and drug trafficking charges in a pre-dawn police operation in the Bronx that capped an 11-month investigation into illegal drug and gun trafficking. “Operation Double Trouble,” as the investigation was known, resulted in the confiscation of 30 guns, substantial amounts of crack cocaine and marijuana, and nearly $14,000 in cash during the arrests made yesterday morning in Co-op City, officials said.
The operation took place around 6 a.m., when roughly 200 officers executed simultaneous arrests in Co-op City. The residential community has been the site of an investigation of interstate gun trafficking and drug dealing since January, when a shootout between two rival gangs prompted an investigation by the New York City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals.
At a press conference yesterday, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, “With the arrests today, we are confident in having apprehended the individuals responsible for all of the shootings in Co-op City this year.” Including the weapons confiscated yesterday almost 50 guns have been seized, a spokesman for the ATF, Joseph Green, said.
But a day after police buried the second officer killed this year, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Garcia, said the tragedy of their deaths reinforced a need for “vigilance and safety” regarding guns.
Yesterday, the ATF said a total of 24 defendants were charged, including the 14 arrested in the Bronx; three who were in prison on other charges; four who were arrested last week, and three who remained at large as of last night.
During their investigation, officials discovered gun sellers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia who facilitated the weapons trafficking, Mr. Kelly said. He said at least four individuals outside of New York could face prosecution.