An undercover investigation spanning more than a year dismantled an alleged gun trafficking operation that moved dozens of illegal firearms across Queens and the Bronx, culminating in a sweeping indictment and arrests this week. Prosecutors say one of the accused conducted a weapons sale while on duty as a security guard at Queens College, underscoring the reach of the operation.
QUEENS, NY – Two Manhattan men have been indicted on 131 counts for allegedly selling 38 illegal firearms, including ghost guns and a machine gun, to undercover officers during a long-term investigation led by the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney’s Office. The defendants, identified as Mouhamadou Sylla, 25, of West Harlem, and Ncodjigui Sanogo, 29, of Harlem, were arraigned Tuesday and ordered held without bail.
District Attorney Melinda Katz said: “Getting guns off the street has to be our priority. These are 38 guns that will never be fired in our communities. One defendant went as far as selling a loaded .38-caliber revolver while working in uniform as a security guard on the Queens College campus. I thank the brave undercover NYPD officers who put themselves in harm’s way to get these deadly weapons off the street and I commend the prosecutors in my Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau for their work on this investigation.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “The defendants in this case created a firearms trafficking operation to funnel dozens of dangerous weapons into our city, including untraceable ghost guns, a TEC-9, and a semiautomatic Glock conversion device. Thanks to our 13-month undercover investigation, the NYPD has taken 38 illegal firearms out of circulation. Large-scale seizures of this kind demonstrate the NYPD’s precision-policing plan in action, which has helped to take nearly 1,500 guns off our streets so far this year. I thank our brave NYPD investigators for their work in shutting down this operation, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in holding these criminals accountable.”
Details of undercover gun sales
According to the indictment, the investigation began in April when the NYPD Firearms Suppression Division and the Queens District Attorney’s Office launched a probe into illegal gun sales. Prosecutors allege that on June 10 at approximately 3:30 p.m., Sylla and Sanogo sold a loaded .38-caliber Titan Tiger revolver to an undercover officer for $1,250 outside a Queens College building on Kissena Boulevard.
Sanogo, who worked as a private security guard at the college, was allegedly in uniform and on duty during the transaction and returned to Kissena Hall immediately afterward.
Authorities said Sylla continued selling firearms to undercover officers in multiple locations, including a College Point parking lot on June 17 and July 2, as well as a June 19 sale in the Melrose section of the Bronx. Between August 28 and April 8, investigators documented 12 additional gun sales on a Woodhaven street bordering Forest Park.
Prosecutors allege Sylla transported the weapons in a 2022 Kia sedan and sold them for roughly $1,200 each, while Sanogo acted as a courier in three of the 16 documented transactions.
Scope of weapons and charges
Of the 38 firearms recovered, two had been reported stolen in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and another was linked to multiple shootings in Newark, New Jersey. Officials said most of the weapons were loaded at the time of sale, and the cache included a machine gun and multiple 9 mm pistols.
Both men face top counts including criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and conspiracy. Sylla faces dozens of additional charges tied to repeated sales and possession offenses, including counts related to ghost guns and attempted weapons sales.
They were arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino, who ordered them remanded and scheduled their next court appearance for June 9. If convicted, both defendants face up to 25 years in prison.
Sylla was arrested in Queens, while Sanogo was taken into custody in Manhattan by members of the NYPD Firearms Suppression Section.
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