NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday that a $1 million drug and gun trafficking ring that terrorized park-goers in the borough has been busted.
Eight men have been charged with drug and gun trafficking following a year-and-a-half investigation spurred by violence and drug sales in and around Jamaica's Rufus King Park, prosecutors announced. Three of those men are charged as major drug traffickers.
The NYPD intercepted several contacts in which the men openly discussed their alleged criminal conduct during a long-term wiretap investigation approved by Katz and supervised by members of her office. Search warrants were obtained for their homes on 85th Street in Brooklyn, 161st Street in Jamaica and Acre Lane in Hicksville.
Law enforcement officials seized two 9 mm firearms, one stolen 357 magnum revolver, one 40-caliber firearm, more than 3 pounds of cocaine, over 1 pound of fentanyl, 1.5 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, 1,337 Adderall pills, 797 Oxycodone pills (30mg), 485 Xanax pills, 334 Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) pills, one car and more than $67,000 in cash.
In addition to the drugs and guns seized during raids on homes in Queens, Brooklyn and Nassau County, undercover agents purchased cocaine and ecstasy from at least one of the men 40 times and five handguns from at least one of the men during the investigation conducted by District Attorney Katz's office and the NYPD's Queens South Violent Crime Squad.
The eight men, aged 18 to 43, face prison sentences ranging from three to 150 years, prosecutors said.
"We allege these men were significant drug and gun traffickers who were a grave threat to public safety as peddlers of death and addiction," Katz said in a statement. We will hold accountable anyone threatening the safety of our neighborhoods."
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