Over two dozen people have been arrested following a multi-agency investigation involving illegal firearms in the city of Syracuse and the surrounding area.
The New York State Police Special Investigations Unit – Gun Trafficking Interdiction Unit (GTIU), State Police Aviation, Special Operations Response Team, along with Investigators and Troopers out of Troop D partnered with the City of Syracuse Police Department, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Onondaga County Crime Analysis Center, and the New York State Department of Corrections & Community Supervision worked together on the investigation.
On November 8, the operation resulted in the arrest of 26 people for 49 felonies and 28 misdemeanor offenses relating to various crimes including, but not limited to, burglaries, firearms, narcotics possession, and arrest warrants. During the interdiction detail, a total of 40 grams of cocaine, 40 grams of fentanyl, 3.3 grams of crack cocaine, and 1,541 individual packets of fentanyl were seized. Also seized were four assault rifles, three handguns, one shotgun, and seven high-capacity magazines.
State Police is withholding the names of those charged at this time due to the ongoing investigation.
Gun trafficking is the illegal buying, selling, manufacturing, or transporting of firearms, often to move weapons from a legal to an illegal market. It’s a serious crime that can be linked to other illegal activities, such as human trafficking and drug trafficking. If you are aware of gun trafficking activity, please contact the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit – GTIU in Syracuse at 315-366-6000.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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