STATEN ISLAND: A gun trafficker from North Carolina allegedly sold 36 guns to an undercover NYPD officer on three separate occasions, according to prosecutors.
Tyreke Colon, 24, recruited individuals in North Carolina to obtain permits and to purchase firearms for him, authorities allege.
He then allegedly paid the straw purchasers back using Cash App.
Colon would travel to New York City and allegedly sold 34 semi-automatic pistols and two revolvers to an undercover cop for more than $40,000 between February and April.
The 24-year-old was arrested in Manhattan on May 19, and at the time was in possession of five semi-automatic pistols and an AR-15-style assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine as he got off a bus from North Carolina, prosecutors said.
“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,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, said in a statement.
Colon laid out his plan through phone conversations that were caught in wiretaps, prosecutors said.
“What do you have to do once you do the application… oh alright so once you do the application you just go up there?” he was recorded saying.
Colon was indicted in a state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday and faces more than 40 charges related to the criminal sale of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.
By Dave Luces [SILIVE]
