Gun Recovered In Trafficking Bust Used In 2021 Bed-Stuy Shooting: NYPD

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A gun used in a summer 2021 shooting that left eight people at a large family gathering injured was taken off the street in a massive gun trafficking bust, officials said Wednesday.

Federal and local law enforcement officials announced the arrest of four people as part of a gun trafficking ring that purchased guns in Virginia only to sell them in Brooklyn — alongside large quantities of narcotics, according to the announcement.

An undercover NYPD officer, who told the trafficking suspects he was a drug dealer, secretly recorded the purchase of over 50 guns from the group along with large amounts of fentanyl and crack cocaine.

"This long-term case and others to follow sends a powerful message: if you traffic guns into New York, you will face severe penalties," said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, adding that the case should cause a significant drop in violence.

One of the men charged, Raymond Minaya, 26, sold a Glock 30 handgun to an undercover officer Minaya believed to be a drug dealer. That gun, officials said, was used in an August 2021 shooting when gunmen unloaded bullets into a large crowd at a family gathering outside of the Eleanor Roosevelt Houses. Eight people were injured.

That single pistol, Essig said, was used in eight separate shootings. He added that the investigation into the Bed-Stuy shooting is ongoing.

Several of the recovered guns were linked by authorities to previous violence across Brooklyn.

A new federal statue, enacted only months ago, allowed authorities to charge the men with firearms trafficking as a standalone federal crime and increases penalties for those convicted.

Previously, prosecutions relied on several disparate statutes in gun trafficking cases.

"As the first prosecution to utilize this new legislation in New York, and one of the first in the country, we are demonstrating that we are prepared to use all the tools at our disposal—new and old—to combat gun violence," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

Peace told reporters that the trafficking operation focused on purchasing guns in Virginia and reselling them in or near NYCHA's Breukelen Houses in Canarsie.

Some of the recovered guns had defaced serial numbers or were ghost guns, making the guns harder for authorities to trace.