By Howard Koplowitz
Five men — including two from Ozone Park — were indicted last week for allegedly selling more than three dozen guns to undercover officers posing as buyers on the black market, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
One of the Ozone Park men, 42-year-old Ali Hassan, of 81-30 102nd Road, was arraigned Sept. 24 on charges of criminal sale of a weapon, manufacture, transport, disposition and defacement of weapons and conspiracy before Queens Supreme Court Judge James P. Griffin, who set Hassan's bail at $100,000, the DA said.
Brown said the other Ozone Park defendant, 25-year-old Ali Kabeer, of 91-16 108th St., “has been located in Florida and is expected to either return voluntarily to New York or be extradited.”
Kabeer faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, Brown said, and Hassan faces a maximum of seven years.
An NYPD investigation dubbed Operation Tommy Gun started in July 2007 after detectives with the NYPD's Firearms Investigation Unit received information that Hassan, Kabeer and three other men “were illegal gun merchants,” the DA said. The detectives and the DA's office then set up a sting operation that included phone conversations and face-to-face meetings, he said.
During the span of the sting, 38 guns — including an assault rifle, sawed-off shotguns and semi-automatic pistols with silencers — were purchased, Brown said. The weapons, many of which had their serial numbers removed, were sold for between $500 and $2,400 apiece and about $1,000 each on average, he said.
“The successful efforts of police and prosecutors working together in cases such as this to track down and prosecute gun traffickers has not only resulted in a significant reduction in the numbers of firearms on the streets of our city but in a record drop in murders — which continues to make New York City the safest big city in America,” the DA said in a statement.
The other three defendants in the case — Scott Kwaak; his brother, Clinton Kwaak; and Thomas Suarez are from Brooklyn, according to the DA.
In some cases, more than one of the defendants met with an undercover officer during a gun sale, Brown said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
