What to KnowThe Queens District Legal professional’s workplace introduced the indictment of 10 individuals for a gun trafficking operation in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. The people are alleged members of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ gang.Beneath Operation Practice Derail, authorities additionally seized 34 weapons and virtually 50 grams of “pink cocaine.”Investigators additionally uncovered and stopped and try from the group of defendants to ship weapons to Columbia with the intention of acquiring an even bigger revenue from the gross sales.
Ten alleged gang members had been indicted on prison costs regarding a gun trafficking operation that carried out firearm gross sales in Queens and different elements of New York Metropolis, the Queens district lawyer and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch introduced Wednesday.
The people arrested and charged are suspected to be members of the Venezuelan gang ‘Tren de Aragua,’ which of late has allegedly recruited youngsters to commit crimes throughout the 5 boroughs.
Operation Practice Derail — the undercover investigation across the Venezuelan gang — additionally resulted within the seizure of 34 firearms and 48 grams of “pink cocaine,” a drug cocktail also called tusi.
“As alleged, the defendants conspired to traffic and sell illegal firearms and drugs in New York City, with each defendant playing a different role in furtherance of Tren de Aragua’s agenda,” stated Queens DA Melinda Katz. “The geographic scope of their alleged conduct extended on a national level to include Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Colorado and internationally to Colombia. As a result of our investigation, 34 dangerous weapons are now off the streets, and we are dismantling this gang as it attempts to establish itself locally.”
The operation dates again to June, when members of the DA’s workplace and the NYPD Firearms Investigation Unit started the undercover investigation in Queens. The officers participated in 22 completely different gun gross sales, which included two AR-15 assault riffles gross sales.
Based on the 120-count indictment, a number of of the gun gross sales occurred in broad daylight in a shopping mall parking zone in School Level. In one other occasion, an AR-15 was “placed in a garbage bag and sold in the middle of the afternoon in the Bronx.”
Investigators additionally uncovered and stopped and try from the group of defendants to ship weapons to Columbia with the intention of acquiring an even bigger revenue from the gross sales.
Many of the defendants have been within the nation since 2023, the Queens DA workplace stated.
“Tren de Aragua is likely one of the most harmful gangs within the nation, and the NYPD has taken important motion to close down their operations in New York Metropolis,” said Commissioner Tisch. “As we speak’s indictment makes clear that we are going to not allow them to terrorize our streets with unlawful weapons, assault weapons, and harmful narcotics that threaten all our communities.”
Out of the ten defendants, six had been arrested on Tuesday and two others had been apprehended and arraigned on Wednesday. Two different defendants have but to be arraigned.
On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Southern District of New York additionally introduced firearm-related costs towards Anderson Zambaro-Pacheco, a fugitive member of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ gang. The federal authorities alleges Zambaro-Pachecho was concerned in a Aurora, Colorado taking pictures that left one individual useless.
Interpol, in January, disseminated an intelligence report that described the gang as “a major regional security threat” that has taken benefit of current migration flows all through Latin America to increase its attain of prison actions.
