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Tyreke Colon, 24, an alleged gun smuggler from North Carolina, connected to a gun trafficking ring, was indicted in the New York State Supreme Court for multiple crimes, including sale of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.
The accused allegedly sold 36 guns, worth over $40,000, to an NYPD undercover officer on multiple occasions. He recruited accomplices in North Carolina to obtain the guns, with the intention of selling them in New York City.
“Colon had bags full of guns,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “and made the sales in broad daylight in the middle of bustling Manhattan.”
Investigators said they wiretapped Colon and listened to his plans to smuggle and sell guns in NYC.
Upon arrest May 19, near the Polo Grounds Towers in Upper Manhattan, as Colon got off a bus from North Carolina, five semi-automatic pistols and an AR-15 style assault rifle with a high capacity magazine were found in his possession.
“Since I took office, one of our main priorities has been to prosecute gun traffickers who bring dangerous weapons into our state,” said Bragg. “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.”
Police say gun traffickers are known to smuggle guns along the “Iron Pipeline,” which refers to Interstate 95 (I-95) and its connector highways.
According to The New York Times, the Iron Pipeline is “one of the biggest factors thwarting New York in its efforts to keep guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals.”
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