A Manhattan grand jury has indicted 33 defendants in a massive, city-wide ring that trafficked in illegal guns and scores of stolen motorcycles.
The ring included “procurers” who lifted flashy bikes right off the street — often loading them into vans that were themselves stolen just for that purpose, officials said as half of the alleged members were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court today.
A 17-month investigation by NYPD auto-theft cops and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance’s Rackets Bureau caught the cycle-snatchers in the act of reselling more than 50 bikes, including a Ducati Monster and a Kawasaki Ninja.
Additionally, some ten illegal guns were sold to undercover officers, officials said.
The ring’s prices were rock bottom, rackets prosecutor Diana Florence told a judge.
The Ducati and the Kawasaki had a total value, conservatively, of $22,000, but an undercover cop was able to purchase the two bikes from accused racketeer Malachi Sims, 34, for only $4,200, Florence said.
Accused ringleaders Selwyn Mills and Tiwane Paul were ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty to enterprise corruption and other crimes.
The arraignments are slated to continue tomorrow; Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marcy Kahn barred any of the parties from divulging details of the indictments, and prosecutors declined to comment on the case, as a few of those named in the paperwork remained fugitives.
The investigation involved hundreds of intercepted phone calls and multiple undercover purchases of both guns and motorcycles, prosecutors said.