Queens cops arrest alleged drug dealers, gun runners in back-to-back busts
/By Jonathan Sperling
Seven alleged members of a Long Island City drug gang and a separate pair of alleged gun- dealers were all taken into custody by Queens investigators in recent days, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Gerren Devlin, 34, and Kiearra Reynolds, 29, both Jamaica residents, were arrested on weapons possession and sales charges for allegedly selling more than 25 guns — ranging from pistols to an assault rifle — along with ammunition.
“Illegal guns in our communities put everyone at risk. Gun runners who profit off the sale of illegal firearms are dealers of death and mayhem and contribute to the senseless gun violence that too often infests our neighborhoods,” said Chief Assistant District Attorney John Ryan in a statement. Ryan announced the take-down at a press conference at 1 Police Plaza on Monday morning.
“Unbeknown to the defendants in this case, their buyers were undercover police and each transaction is now evidence that will be used to lock them away for a very long time,” he continued.
On Sept. 6, 2018, Reynolds allegedly sold three pistols and ammunition to an undercover detective posing as a buyer for $2,800. Between December 2017 and March 2019, Devlin sold numerous firearms to the undercover officer on nine separate occasions in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash. In one instance, the undercover officer met with Devlin on Ferndale Avenue in Jamaica, where Devlin allegedly sold a pistol, a magazine for the pistol and ammunition for $600.
Over the course of the investigation, undercover detectives purchased 26 pistols, two revolvers, two assault rifles, a shotgun, an inoperable blank pistol and more than 400 rounds of ammunition for just over $26,000. The Queens District Attorney’s Office was not able to say how the couple managed to procure the guns.
Both defendants were ordered to return to court on April 29. If convicted, Devlin faces a maximum of up to 182 years in prison, while Reynolds faces up to 22 years in prison.
Meanwhile, in Astoria’s Ravenswood Houses, Queens investigators announced that seven alleged members of a drug trafficking ring were arrested following a long-term investigation.
The DA’s Office identified Jamarl Gilmore, 38, as the crew’s ring leader. He was arrested in August of 2018 and faces between 15 and 30 years in prison if convicted. Following Gilmore’s arrest, the investigation into the crew continued, leading cops to arrest Donte Wiggins, 38, of Queens Village, Damein Walker, 40, and Gerard Dennis, 26, both of LIC. Three other suspects were also arrested.
When police arrested Wiggins on Wednesday, he allegedly told them that he had “cocaine in his buttocks.” One of the arresting officers allegedly recovered a plastic bag containing cocaine from Wiggins’ buttocks. Police also executed a search warrant on Wiggin’s home in Queens Village and allegedly found two .40-caliber semi-automatic handguns, magazines and ammunition.
“These arrests have dismantled an established network of criminal offenders who were transporting and distributing significant quantities of illegal guns and drugs,” said NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill in a statement. “My thanks to the investigators and law enforcement partners for their hard work in this case and ensuring that these individuals will be unable to continue profiting from the misery their trade brought to our communities.”
