NY AG led ghost gun trafficking operation recovers 86 firearms in Queens; sold at playground, mall

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Five people were charged on a 625-count indictment in connection to a gun trafficking operation that sold dozens of ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Queens, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.

The suspects charged in the operation allegedly transported 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County and serialized firearms purchased in Indiana into Queens, where they were stored and sold, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

An investigation by the OAG’s Organized Crime Task Force in cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD recovered 86 firearms – including 55 ghost guns and 25 assault weapons – along with over 90 high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

“When gun traffickers flood neighborhoods with untraceable firearms, they fuel violence that tears communities apart,” James said. “This investigation successfully stopped a dangerous gun trafficking operation by removing dozens of ghost guns and assault weapons from our streets.”

Investigators began tracking Satveer Saini, 20, and his associates, Mateo Castro-Agudelo, 21, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, 20, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, 20, and Milanjit Sidhu, 20, in late 2023, according to the OAG.

During the investigation, Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and Senhaji-Rivas allegedly paid over $27,000 to purchase firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York.

Early in the investigation, Saini and Castro-Agudelo drove from Indianapolis to Queens with weapons purchased in Indiana when they were stopped for speeding by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Medina County, Ohio. During the stop, police recovered nine unloaded serialized handguns from inside Saini’s rental car.

From this point on, Fernandez-Gonzalez allegedly began paying Sidhu to drive weapons from Indianapolis to Queens.

Fernandez-Gonzalez also allegedly bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County and brought them to Queens.  Saini, Castro-Agudelo, and Senhaji-Rivas all allegedly sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition during the course of the investigation.

Saini then allegedly sold these firearms in multiple locations in Queens, including at the Louis C. Moser Playground in Jackson Heights on a weekday afternoon, and in the parking lot of the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, according to the OAG.

Castro-Agudelo and Fernandez-Gonzalez also allegedly used a garage in Elmhurst to store weapons such as firearms, ghost guns and high-capacity magazines inside a guitar case in the garage.

Castro-Agudelo allegedly used the guitar case to transport the weapons to customers. At least one of the firearms sales he made took place outside of a smoke shop in Jackson Heights where he worked, according to the OAG. He also allegedly posted posted pictures of these guns on social media accounts.

Each of the five suspects were charged with criminal sale of a firearm and/or criminal possession of a firearm.

If convicted of one count of either of these crimes, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.