$1M Narcotics Seizure Follows Queens Trafficking Investigation: DA

QUEENS, NY — A drug- and gun-trafficking ring in Queens came to a crashing stop with charges against eight people and over $1 million of narcotics seized, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors claim the eight men named in Tuesday — some as young as 18 years old — operated a massive trafficking ring out of Rufus King Park in Jamaica.

And the scale was huge, Katz said.

From homes in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, police recovered four guns, five pounds of cocaine, a cocaine press, over one pound of fentanyl, Oxycodone pills, MDMA, Adderall and Xanax pills, and over $67,000 in cash.

Undercover officer purchased five handguns from those named in the indictment over the course of a year-and-a-half-long investigation, Katz said.

"When we raided the homes of the principals we seized drugs with an estimated street value of $1 million," Katz said. "The investigation was sparked by violence and drug sales in and around Rufus King Park."

"What police seized during these raids... confirmed what we suspected: that this was indeed a major trafficking operation."

Five of the eight men named in the indictment were in custody Tuesday and one — the gun supplier — remained at large, Katz said.

The men face between three to 150 years in prison on charges including weapons, conspiracy and drug sale and possession, according to Katz.

Prosecutors claim the leader of the operation is Adrian Escobar, known as King Mango, of Brooklyn.

Escobar faces over 40 charges that could put him behind bars for 150 years, Katz said Tuesday.

"These men were significant drug and gun traffickers who were a grave threat to public safety as peddlers of death and addiction," Katz said.