Five men, including two from Queens, were arrested for their alleged roles in a gun trafficking ring that purchased firearms in South Carolina that were then transported on the Iron Pipeline and destined to be sold on the streets of Brooklyn, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The defendants are Darryl Currie, 49, of Oakland Gardens, and Dorian Cabrera, 47, of Rosedale, Markie Brown, 44, and Fred Chapman, 46, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and Craig Darby, 46, of Conway, South Carolina. They were first-, second- and third-degree criminal sale of a firearm; first-, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; fourth-degree conspiracy; second- and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Currie and Cabrera are being held on $100,000 and $25,000 bail, respectively, and Brown is being held on $250,000 bail. Chapman will be arraigned at a later date, and Darby is awaiting extradition from South Carolina.
“The guns that were recovered as part of this investigation are exactly the types of weapons used to commit violence in our communities,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “These indictments reflect our continued commitment to focusing on drivers of crime, maintaining public safety and stopping the influx of guns into Brooklyn from Southern states with lax gun laws. I thank the police and my prosecutors for their joint efforts in this case.”
According to charges, the investigation into the alleged gun ring began in June 2018 when an undercover cop allegedly purchased four guns from Brown in Brooklyn. The detective allegedly purchased a total of 36 guns during 11 transactions, in the vicinity of Fulton Street and Broadway in East New York and, later, in the vicinity of DeKalb Avenue and Throop Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Charges say that Darby and Currie allegedly provided Brown with the firearms, which were allegedly purchased legally in South Carolina and brought to Brooklyn for resale, which Brown then sold to the detective. The defendants allegedly sold a variety of firearms, including a Glock 9mm pistol, a Springfield Armory 9mm pistol, a Ruger .380-caliber pistol, a Taurus International .45-caliber pistol, a .40-caliber pistol, a Sig-Sauer .22-caliber pistol, a Ruger 9mm and others, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Chapman allegedly operated as the primary supplier of heroin to re-sellers and would travel to Brooklyn and elsewhere to deliver heroin to his re-sellers, including Cabrera, who then allegedly resold that heroin to Currie. Currie then allegedly sold the heroin to multiple individuals.
“The NYPD will tirelessly target not only those who might use illegal firearms, but also those who would profit from their sale,” said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “I want to thank our local state and federal law enforcement partners involved in bringing the members of this illegal gun and drug trafficking network to answer for their crimes.”
