Gang busters make mighty catch

Last week’s takedown of a drug and gun trafficking ring not only led to the arrest of 19 purported Bloods members and associates - including the alleged faction leader and his wife - and a retired City Corrections Officer, but also to arrests for two previously unsolved homicides and a robbery pattern.
Police also seized eight guns and a shotgun, a kilo and a half of cocaine, 10 pounds of marijuana and approximately $15,000 in narcotics proceeds.
Beginning in October of last year, New York Police Department (NYPD) officers assigned to the Queens Gang Squad and District Attorney Richard A. Brown’s Narcotics Investigations Bureau began to focus resources on the alleged drug and gun trafficking network linked to the Hollis faction of the Bloods street gang.
Dubbed “Operation Pots and Pans,” (the term “pots and pans” is allegedly the slang term used by this group when referring to handguns), the investigation included extensive physical surveillance, court-authorized eavesdropping and search warrants.
Over the course of 10 months, police observed gang members allegedly distributing large amounts of narcotics to numerous street dealers who, in turn, sold the narcotics to the organization’s customers - who were typically drug addicts. It is alleged that the organization grossed more than $5,000 per week through its illegal operations and was supplying drugs to various Bloods members in North Carolina.
“New York is fortunate in that it does not have the level of gang membership and activity that has plagued other cities,” noted Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “Nevertheless, we pay attention and take action when violence and other crimes committed by gang members erupt. The police and prosecutors are to be commended for their vigilance.”
Among those arrested was alleged Bloods leader Benjamin (a.k.a. Dark) Dunn. According to the charges, a search warrant was executed on Dunn’s residence on February 6 of this year, and police recovered more than two pounds of marijuana and two defaced guns from a bedroom drawer - a Titan .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol containing a magazine with seven live rounds and a loaded 9mm Jimenez semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing 12 rounds of ammunition. Both weapons allegedly had their serial numbers scratched off. Both Dunn and his wife, Darice Dunn, were charged with weapons and drug possession.
Also charged in the investigation were brothers Ontarris and Thomas Armstrong and Henderick Evans and Thomas Pitts, all of Halifax County, North Carolina. Information developed during the investigation allegedly revealed that Bloods members were driving up from the south to New York to buy drugs. According to the charges, Thomas Armstrong, driving with his brother, Evans and Pitts, was stopped for a traffic infraction in Hollis on January 17. At the time, police allegedly observed a bag containing 1.3 ounces of cocaine in the back seat and recovered more than six pounds of marijuana from the trunk and six Ziploc bags of marijuana from the shirt pocket of Ontarris Armstrong.
In another case, it is charged, it was discovered that retired City Corrections Officer Adolph Porter and Kevin Kimbrough were allegedly storing cocaine inside their Jamaica residence. On July 17, a search warrant was executed at the location and police allegedly recovered 20 plastic bags of cocaine, a shotgun, a 9mm pistol (Porter’s off-duty weapon), boxes of ammunition and a magazine containing several live rounds.
In addition to drug and weapons charges, Dunn was also charged as a result of the investigation in the fatal stabbing of Persian Gulf War veteran Henry G. Frasier, 40, on the night of May 10, during an alleged dispute over an NBA playoff game. The incident occurred outside Frasier’s cousin’s house, located at 110-15 207th Street in Hollis.
“Operation Pots and Pans,” also led to the apprehension of alleged Crips gang member Jaivon Chisolm, for the shooting death of Mark Arrington, 23, of St. Albans, on November 14, 2007, resulting from the rivalry between the Bloods and the Crips gangs. Chisolm pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
Finally, information obtained during the investigation led to the arrest of Rise Adams, 21, on February 14. According to the DA, Adams participated in a series of street robberies in Hollis and Jamaica during the first two weeks of February of this year. Adams has pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny.