The streets of Queens are marginally safer today following the conviction and sentencing of five individuals involved in a significant ghost gun trafficking operation. According to an announcement by the Attorney General's Office, these individuals were trafficking a myriad of illegal firearms, including the increasingly troubling ghost guns - firearms that lack serial numbers and are difficult to trace. The Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York and the New York City Police Department (NYPD), recovered 86 firearms in their operation.
Among the weapons were 55 ghost guns, 25 assault weapons, over 90 high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The investigation initially began in 2023 and culminated in a 625-count indictment in July 2024. The convicted traffickers include Satveer Saini and his associates Matteo Castro-Agudelo, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, and Milanjit Sidhu. The prosecutors’ details how Saini and his associates transported the illegal firearms from areas with more permissive laws, such as Indiana and Nassau County, to Queens, where they stored and sold the armaments.
A significant element of the sales involved 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County and serialized firearms purchased in states with laxer gun restrictions. Controlled purchases, covert surveillance, and extensive record analysis were fundamental in nailing down the scope of the criminal activity. Saini's conviction led to him forfeiting $11,925 from undercover fireamrs sales, and he received nine years in state prison plus five years of post-release supervision. "Gun traffickers who specialize in selling illegal and untraceable weapons undermine our commonsense gun safety laws and put all New Yorkers at risk," said Attorney General James in a statement obtained by the Attorney General's Office.
Each of the convicted individuals played specific roles in the operation, from procurement to sales. For instance, Castro-Agudelo, who was sentenced to nine and a half years in state prison, used a guitar case to conceal and transport firearms to customers, even making a sale outside of a smoke shop in Jackson Heights. HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel highlighted the case's success in striking a blow against the cycle of gun violence, crediting the strong collaboration among law enforcement agencies for the outcome. "The convictions and sentencings of these individuals mark a decisive victory in the battle against illegal firearms and the grave threat they pose to public safety," Patel said, according to the Attorney General's Office press release.
To complete the multi-agency effort, NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch thanked investigators and partners at the Attorney General’s Office. "This investigation is that strategy in action. The women and men of the NYPD helped seize 86 firearms, including ghost guns and assault rifles, before they could ever be used to harm New Yorkers," Tisch conveyed in the press release from the Attorney General's Office.
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