NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 24-year-old man was indicted for trafficking dozens of guns worth over $40,000 from North Carolina to New York City, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.
Tyreke Colon was arrested on May 19 while getting off of a bus on Canal Street with six guns in his bag and one in his fanny pack. Officials said it was the latest of sales Colon made to an undercover detective posing as a buyer.
Between February and May on three separate occasions, Colon recruited people he knew in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to get permits and buy firearms for him, sending money through CashApp. He then traveled to New York City to exchange the guns with the undercover officer in broad daylight, authorities said.
In total, 34 of the guns were semi-automatic pistols and two were revolvers. Colon charged the detective more than $40,000 for the weapons and magazines, which could hold hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Authorities were also able to tap Colon’s phone and hear conversations about the trafficking plan. In one call, he asks a friend for instructions to provide to the straw purchasers to obtain the necessary permits, saying, “What do you have to do once you do the application…oh alright so once you do the application you just go up there?”
In another conversation, Colon tells a straw purchaser how easy it is to get a gun permit in North Carolina, despite the purchaser’s worry about a misdemeanor gun charge preventing him from doing so. It’s possible. It ain’t like they won’t deny you.”
Colon was also recorded discussing logistics with the detective telling him the next time he will be able to bring guns up to New York will be “towards the end of this month because I got like, well I got, I got a list of people getting all of them,” and that he had so many guns he “probably could bring the price down.”
“This joint investigation makes clear that we will proactively work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those individuals who are feeding the gun violence in our city,” said Bragg. “This case illustrates how the iron pipeline continues to pose a direct and immediate threat to the safety of all New Yorkers. While we are fortunate to have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, they are far too often undermined by the easy availability of guns in many other states.”
In total, 42 guns were able to be purchased from Colon. He faces multiple counts of firearm possession and sale charges.
“This indictment illustrates the NYPD’s work in strategically marshaling every possible resource toward reducing gun violence in New York City,” said Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell. "It is important work that has saved lives and contributed to the seizure of more than 3,000 guns so far this year at a time when gun arrests are at a 28-year high.”
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