By Dan Gesslein
Feds and cops closed down a 24-hour drug supermarket in Hunts Point this week and charged 33 members of a street gang with distributing coke, crack and heroin, an unsealed indictment revealed.
Members of the FBI and NYPD raided an apartment building on Manida Street as part of a five-month long investigation. In the crackdown of the gang running the drug trade, 33 members of the “Satan’s Bloods” were charged. Some were still being sought as others were already behind bars when the new charges hit.
"With these arrests, we have shut off yet another distribution channel for the poison that threatens New Yorkers and their communities,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharra. “It is another example of our commitment to working with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to prosecute and punish those responsible for bringing illegal narcotics onto our streets."
"Today’s arrests demonstrate a significant crackdown on criminal organizations and individuals who harbor the desire to distribute illegal narcotics,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk. “The effects of this type of activity are not only dangerous for those involved, but poisonous to society as a whole. Along with our fellow law enforcement partners, the FBI will continue to seek out those responsible for contaminating our streets and threatening the safety of our communities."
Investigators said during the period of March until July, undercover NYPD officers made over 100 buys of crack, cocaine and heroin in the Hunts Point location that ran 24/7. The Manida Street location was across the street from a park and around the corner from a community center.
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, "I want to commend our undercover officers, in particular, for the often dangerous work they undertake to check the scourge of addictive, illegal drugs and their inevitable nexus to violence. I also want to thank our federal partners for their dedication in prosecuting these drugs dealers."
