Time to retire — to jail!
A gun-smuggler who will be eligible to collect Social Security next month when he turns 65 was among 13 suspects arrested for running two weapons-trafficking networks in Harlem that sold 129 illegal firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammo, authorities announced today.
Over the past two days, cops also seized more than 100 guns during takedowns and nine search warrant executions as part of the sting. Three suspects remain at large.
“There’s an awful lot of firepower here that can kill a lot of people,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, joined by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance.
“Every child on every block in every neighborhood in this city has the right to walk to school without the fear of being shot,” Vance said.
Among those collared was Mitchell “Mickey” Collins, 64, who has a record dating back to 1968 that includes attempted murder and weapons possession, Kelly said.
“Getting close to the wily Mickey Collins was no easy matter,” Kelly said. “He waited for months before agreeing to meet with the undercover officer and even longer before he would agree to sell him more than one gun at a time.”
He, along with three cohorts, eventually peddled 88 guns to the undercover cop — including an AK-47 that fetched $1,600 and a .32-caliber Smith and Wesson that went for $400, Kelly added.
One accomplice, Sampson Taylor, 34, would allegedly take a bus to South Carolina, stock up on firepower at pawn shops and gun dealers and then ferret the illicit arsenal back to the city, where weapons sold for 100 percent profit.
Collins, Sampson and two pals were busted in an operation dubbed “Mickey Mouse Trap” that began in May 2011, Kelly said.
Another lengthy sting, called “Operation Carver,” started in November 2011 and targeted four gangs comprising perps ranging in age from 17 to 23, Kelly added.
Those crews allegedly sold 41 guns and a bulletproof vest to an undercover officer.
Two of the weapons sold were used in prior shootings: one in the Bronx in 2003, and another in a gunfight last year in the Cypress Houses in Brooklyn, authorities said.
Victims in both shootings refused to cooperate with investigators.