The gun trafficker from the wiretap and 18 others have been indicted for transporting the firearms from North and South Carolina, where Kelly said there are weaker gun laws, and then selling them in New York City to an undercover officer. Police say the officer met with the defendants on more than 45 occasions and would sell the loaded guns within hours of arriving. The firearms seized range from a .22 caliber to assault weapons valued at over $160,000.
"More than 200 guns is an astonishing number of firearms to be recovered by one undercover officer in a little under one year," said Kelly. Bloomberg and Kelly addressed the media, most of the weapons seized lay on a table in front of them, illustrating a small victory in the fight against illegal guns.
The mayor is also hoping for a victory in his appeal of a ruling by a federal judge just one week ago, that the NYPD's controversial so-called "stop-and-frisk" policy is unconstitutional. Bloomberg has said the tactic, which allows cops to search anyone regardless of whether they believe a crime has been committed, is "an important part of [the NYPD's] record of success."
