There Are Many Ways Criminals Obtain Firearms
March 10, 2006
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
New York City newspapers reported on Feb. 20 the arrests of six men by city police in connection with what officials described as a major gun smuggling operation; details of the story varied by newspaper.
The New York Times quoted Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly as saying that the investigation, called Operation Tripod, unfolded over the course of a year and involved undercover detectives who spent $118,000 buying the guns.
The Daily News seemed to spend more time providing details concerning the bust of the major middleman in the illegal operation while he sat in a portable toilet hut situated near a Queens borough construction site. Depending on the newspaper report, he was sitting in the portable john with one or two boxes of guns on his lap, waiting for customers to come pick them up after paying his runners.
Both papers juggled terms such as “high-powered weapons,” “Chinese assault rifles” and “powerful 9mm pistols.”
The arrest of the illegal gun traffickers was linked to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new nationwide campaign to impose New York-style gun laws on the rest of the nation. According to The Times, Kelly said that 72% of all guns used in crimes in New York City come from out of state. He noted that it was rare for the police to apprehend the middlemen who purchase the guns, sometimes from legitimate gun dealers, and then illegally transport them to New York. In New York City, the guns retail on the street for $200 to $2,000, he said.
Thefts from Police
Just a week earlier, South African news agencies reported from Johannesburg that a 10-man gang has stolen two R5 rifles, an R1, a pistol and several pieces of police uniforms in an attack on the Emanguzi police station near Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal police.
Captain Tienkie van Vuuren was reported to have said that the gang confronted Inspector Sigcuno Ntuli just before midnight on a Sunday.
The robbers demanded the keys to the safe in the community service center and took the firearms, Ntuli’s uniform, another policeman’s jacket, police caps and a blue light.
On a routine patrol at the time, Constable Noktula Myeni saw a balaclava-clad robber near the entrance of the community center and drew her service pistol, but he saw her and opened fire.
She took cover, then ran to the nearby barracks for help, under fire from the armed man hot on her heels. She was not hit. The noise woke policemen asleep in the barracks and they opened fire on the gunman, who retreated.
The police gave chase, arresting three of the attackers outside Emanguzi.
The others got away with the stolen firearms. Police were still searching for them.
Closer to home, in San Antonio, TX, in mid-February, according to KSAT.com, a SWAT team became the victim of a similar crime.
Some weapons, a police badge and laptop computers were stolen from a rental car that belonged to an out-of-town SWAT team in San Antonio for training.
San Antonio police spokesman Gabe Treviño said that an officer with the Virginia Beach, VA, SWAT team had just placed the items in the car and had gone to his hotel room to get some more items when someone broke a rear window of the vehicle and took the items.
Treviño said the incident happened in a matter of seconds.
“Notoriously, these car burglars work very quickly,” Treviño said. “They can go up to a car, break a window, get in, take items and be gone in a matter of 20-30 seconds, at the longest.”
No arrests have been made but San Antonio police are actively looking for the weapons, Treviño said.
The officer was getting ready to leave the hotel for a training session with the San Antonio Police Department SWAT team when the burglary occurred at 7 a.m. in the parking lot of a Residence Inn.
Guns in Jail Vans
Then there is the story of correctional officers in Orange County, FL, complaining that two private transport companies have left firearms unsecured in unlocked vans while transporting inmates to and from jail, according to a Local 6 News report.
Four times since October, corrections officers said lives were potentially put at risk in Jail SallyPorts, where prisoners are picked up and dropped off.
The thought of loaded guns left in unlocked vans inside the jail makes some officials cringe, according to the report.
“It’s a grave concern to us and anytime any incident of this type comes to our attention we take immediate steps to correct it.” Orange County Corrections Chief Tim Ryan said.
The founding owner of State Extraditions Inc., the company accused of leaving the unsecured weapons, is one of the highest ranking officials in Orange County corrections.
Dennis Warren’s company is the same one whose employees removed leg shackles from Dominic Reddick, a dangerous prisoner it picked up from the Orange County Jail two months ago.
Reddick escaped and remained at large for five days.
As for the reports of unsecured firearms, State Extradition declined on camera interviews.
“Are you one of the extradition officers who left the gun unsecured at the Orange County Jail?” Problem Solver Tony Pipitone asked.
“I have no comment,” the worker said.
Jail reports detail four incidents since October, two involving State Extraditions and two with a competitor, US Extraditions.
US Extraditions has vowed to correct the problems, Pipitone said.
However, Warren denies his company has any problems, claiming jail reports stating his company was “neglectful” for leaving unsecured firearms are false.
His boss stands by the reports, Pipitone reported.
“We always want accuracy in reports,” Corrections Chief Tim Ryan said. “My hope is that it is accurate.”
“And if someone on your command staff was aware that somebody was filing false reports with false information, would that person be required to report that?” Pipitone asked.
“Absolutely,” Ryan said.
However, Warren told Pipitone over the weekend that he had not reported it to other managers or internal affairs investigators.
“If, in fact, they were aware a report wasn’t accurate and didn’t take steps to correct that, then I will address that,” Ryan said.
Ryan and the jail want everyone who brings prisoners through these gates to not leave unsecured firearms in their vans.
“No one has been hurt in this process,” Ryan said. “However it is a security breach and we are taking it seriously.”
If there are more incidents of firearms being left inside transport vans, the jail has threatened to restrict access and complain to the state, which licenses the companies, Local 6 reported.
Also, the county has found that Warren’s private transport does not conflict with his job at the jail because the company contracts with the sheriff’s office, not with the corrections division.
Inventive Criminals
Whether its gunrunners using a portable john as a storefront in New York City, armed robbers taking guns from a South African police station, or thieves robbing SWAT teams, the criminals will always find ways to supply themselves with the tools of their trade. That’s their business. The savvier ones sell the guns to the gangbangers who do the damage and take the risks. The more desperate ones find other ways to get the arms they need.
In all instances, the gun laws are irrelevant. The bad guy can get his girlfriend to be his straw buyer. But whatever tools they need to impose their law on others—guns, knives, baseball bats or their fists—criminals will find the way.
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