New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the takedown of a multistate gun and drug trafficking network that sold assault weapons, ghost guns and other firearms, and cocaine in New York City. The takedown recovered 74 firearms, including nine assault-style rifles, eight assault-style pistols and four ghost guns, over 2,100 rounds of ammunition, and 500 grams of cocaine with a street value of $15,700. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) arrested 13 individuals and charged them with 358 crimes for their roles in trafficking these firearms and narcotics into New York City from New Jersey and Florida.
“Assault weapons and ghost guns pose some of the greatest threats to our communities, and we will do everything possible to keep them out of New York,” said Attorney General James. “As a result of our investigation, we took dozens of dangerous and illegal guns and narcotics out of our communities and stopped this multistate crime operation from continuing to profit off violence. Protecting New Yorkers from gun violence is a joint effort, and I thank our partners in law enforcement for their commitment to public safety.”
The takedown was the result of a ten-month joint investigation led by OAG Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) and the United States Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) New York Strike Force Group Z-13, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The investigation included physical and covert video surveillance, court-authorized wiretapping of cellphones, the analysis of electronic evidence, including cellphone communications, and other traditional investigative operations.
The investigation began in August 2023, focusing on Anthony Ortiz Vasquez, who sold illegal firearms, illegal rapid-fire modification devices that transform semiautomatic weapons into automatic weapons, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition. Wiretap evidence revealed a coordinated network of individuals around Ortiz Vasquez working together to buy, store, transport, and sell these firearms and accessories.
The investigation revealed that Ortiz Vasquez bought firearms from Nelphy Reyes-Peralta, Nestor Vasquez Vargas and his cousin Derek Vargas, Harry Laureano, and Jeffry Deschamps. Nestor Vasquez Vargas, who resides in Kissimmee, Florida, would mail illegal firearms – some of which he custom painted – to Ortiz Vasquez in Paterson, New Jersey. Ortiz Vasquez bought firearms from the other defendants at various locations in Paterson, often using codewords like “toys,” “sneakers,” or “panties,” to refer to the guns when arranging purchases. Ortiz Vasquez and his sources also referred ammunition as “food” and the illegal rapid-fire modification devices as “switches” when they communicated about sales. In addition to Ortiz Vasquez’s payments, Tiffany Diaz Fermin and brothers Carlos Torres and Juan Torres sent money transfers through Zelle and CashApp to pay the firearms sources.
After buying the firearms, Iris Molina, Tiffany Diaz Fermin, and Kiara Rodriguez stored firearms for Ortiz Vasquez at Molina, Diaz Fermin, and Ortiz Vasquez’s homes in Paterson. Ortiz Vasquez also enlisted his mother, Yadira Vasquez, to help move, hide, store, and pay for the firearms.
Carlos and Juan Torres regularly assisted Ortiz Vasquez in driving the firearms, rapid fire modification devices, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition, from Paterson, New Jersey to Washington Heights in New York City where they were sold. The defendants consistently made their sales on the same street corner in Washington Heights. In addition, Deschamps, Laureano, Yadira Vasquez, and Rodriguez all drove firearms from New Jersey to Manhattan and were each present for at least one sale made by Ortiz Vasquez. The defendants used different methods to disguise the weapons and ammunition as they transported them. They often wrapped guns in blankets and sheets or hid them in reusable grocery bags, and at least once used a guitar case to hide an assault rifle while driving it to New York City.
Ortiz Vasquez also sold 500 grams of cocaine in Washington Heights, which was consistently sourced from his brother, Hector Vasquez.
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