Three residents of the Queens area in New York City, aged between 22 and 31, are facing nearly 600 charges brought by the New York State Attorney General’s Office for allegedly illegally smuggling over 180 firearms into New York from out of state. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison. According to prosecutors, the group’s method of smuggling firearms into New York City was by taking buses between Manhattan’s Chinatown and North Carolina.
The three defendants are Deundre Wright, 22, Abner Sparkes, 31, and Ethan Charles, 22, all from Queens. The smuggled firearms included a large number of assault weapons, semi-automatic handguns, revolvers, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Investigations by the prosecution revealed that between March and July 2024, Wright was primarily responsible for purchasing guns in North Carolina and then selling them in Queens. Wright would take the bus from Manhattan’s Chinatown to North Carolina, where he would stash the smuggled firearms in his luggage.
After smuggling the guns into New York City, Wright would store them at a friend’s house in Jamaica, Queens, including inside the friend’s personal vehicle, before selling the illegal firearms for $1,000 to $2,500 each.
The trio collectively face a total of 579 charges, with each being accused of first-degree illegal sale of firearms and first-degree illegal possession of firearms, both considered class B violent felonies. If found guilty of either charge, they could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.
State Attorney General Letitia James stated, “The majority of firearms used in crimes in New York City are illegally brought in from states with lax gun laws along the ‘Iron Pipeline,’ exacerbating the deadly gun violence in New York communities.”
The “Iron Pipeline” refers to a route used to smuggle illegal firearms across the United States, with one of its core paths running along the east coast’s Interstate 95, passing through states like Pennsylvania and Georgia with relaxed gun control and inevitably through states like New York and New Jersey with stricter gun regulations.
This crackdown was the result of a joint investigation by the Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) of the Attorney General’s Office and the New York Strike Force of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which includes the DEA’s Firearms Task Force in New York City.