NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Police in New York City and the Carolinas said Monday 19 people have been arrested for allegedly running two gun trafficking rings.
New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said illegal firearms were being bought in North and South Carolina and funneled to New York City where they fetch double or triple the price when sold on the street.
Kelly said NYPD officers conducted an undercover investigation into the gun-running operation and officers seized 254 illegal guns as a result. Undercover officers met with agents from the gun ring on numerous occasions and purchased $157,625 worth of guns, often multiple weapons at once.
Police said individuals operating in Sanford, N.C., and Rock Hill, S.C., operated independently of one another, transporting illegal guns to a common Brooklyn-based dealer.
The investigation, which stemmed from a narcotics investigation, took place from September 2012 through July, Kelly said. The first arrests in the case were made Aug. 2.
