Tag: crown heights

Five men and two women, including three alleged gang members, are facing drug and gun trafficking charges after a year-long undercover investigation dismantled a Brooklyn-based operation, law enforcement officials announced Friday.

The investigation, code-named “Get Sturdy,” led by the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Brooklyn North and overseen by the city’s Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, began in September 2024, when detectives zeroed in on the stretch of Schenectady Avenue between Lincoln Place and Park Place, “a corridor long plagued by drugs and violence,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

The Commissioner said detectives uncovered a group of individuals, consisting of two members of the G-Stone Crips and one member of the Bloods, who set aside gang rivalries to sell crack cocaine and traffic guns in the Weeksville section of Crown Heights. 

Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny remarked at the Oct. 3 press conference that it was not unusual for the rival groups to work together, “when it comes down to it, red and blue, they care about green.”

“And when it comes to money, they’ll get together to make that cash,” said Kenny.

Over the course of 12 months, an undercover NYPD officer conducted 26 buys, purchasing 10 semi-automatic pistols, four revolvers, six long guns (including one altered into a fully automatic weapon), and 500 grams of crack cocaine.

“The takedown also recovered another loaded semi-automatic 9mm handgun, a large quantity of illicit drugs, including heroin, crack cocaine, and prescription pills,” Tisch added.

Seven of the individuals involved in the Crown Heights drug and gun ring were arrested during a takedown operation on Oct.1, while court-authorized search warrants resulted in the seizure of firearms and narcotics, authorities said. 

Officials noted that most of the defendants had prior firearms arrests, and one was on parole for weapons possession at the time.

Commissioner Tisch said the case reflected the NYPD’s broader “precision policing” strategy, which targets small groups driving violence. “We are targeting the people who deal drugs, traffic guns, and put New Yorkers in harm’s way — and we’re holding them accountable,” Tisch said.

She noted that shootings citywide have dropped to historic lows, with the 77th Precinct — where the group allegedly operated — seeing a 45% decrease in shootings this year.

A coordinated effort

At the center of the case is Dwayne Seales, 39, accused of running the loosely connected operation that prosecutors say “plagued local businesses and residential streets” with around-the-clock drug and gun sales.

According to Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan, Seales allegedly conducted 19 separate transactions with an undercover officer, selling more than a pound of narcotics and 20 firearms, including AR-style rifles and handguns with high-capacity magazines.

In many cases, the guns were sold loaded, she said.

Sales often took place in neighborhood businesses, including bodegas, a smoke shop and a Chinese restaurant, prosecutors said. In total, the undercover officer paid more than $35,000 for narcotics and guns.

Brennan said that Seales has been charged in a 28-count indictment, including criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first, second, and third degrees and criminal sales of a firearm in the first, second, and third degrees.

The narcotics sales allegedly began with crack cocaine, sometimes taking place inside local businesses. Later, prosecutors say Seales expanded to fentanyl and heroin.

Authorities said Seales dealt in increasingly dangerous drug mixtures, alleging that lab tests confirmed that some packets labeled as heroin actually contained fentanyl, cocaine, tramadol, xylazine, medetomidine, and other synthetic substances.

In January 2025, he allegedly began offering firearms for sale, sending photos of available guns to the undercover officer and then arranging meet-ups, often on Sterling Place in Crown Heights.

“To set up the sales, he sent photographs to the undercover officer’s phone displaying an array of firearms so the undercover could choose which one he wanted,” said Brennan. “And sometimes when he chose one, the officer was told that one was already taken.”

Other alleged participants include Akeel Baptiste, 27, and Tyrone Stewart, 43, charged with facilitating gun transactions; Kevin Thomas, 39, described as a narcotics supplier; and Ismail Abraham, 24, accused of working as a street-level dealer.

The two women involved were identified as Sarahann Hinds, 36, and Medanie Wilson, 29.  Prosecutors said they were arrested in conjunction with court-authorized searches of residences associated with the organization.

The group faces a range of charges, including criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal sale of a firearm, and criminal possession. Seales is charged with 19 drug sales and multiple firearms offenses.

Brennan praised the collaboration that made the case possible, highlighting work by the Brooklyn DA’s office and NYPD narcotics detectives, as well as wiretap evidence and search warrants that helped secure the indictments.

Brennan alleges that Sales, with the assistance of others, maintained a “consistent presence and close watch” over the neighborhood, which she said made it difficult for law enforcement to conduct surveillance.

“The wiretaps, as a result, were a particularly valuable tool in this case,” she added.

“This case underscores the close nexus between illegal drugs and guns, which we have seen far too many times,” Brennan said, adding that cocaine trafficking in the city has been on the rise since 2021, which she said reflects broader increases in South American production.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the takedown “a wake-up call to the bad guys out there in the street who think law enforcement can’t work together.” He said the partnership among prosecutors and police ensured that the defendants could not only be arrested, but also thoroughly investigated to dismantle the supply chain.

“I want to applaud the NYPD for having the courage to take the time to build out this trafficking
case because we could have arrested him on the first gun, but we need to make sure we’re figuring out where these guns are going, where they’re coming from, and the trafficking ring,” Gonzalez said.

“These were dangerous drugs, and just the narcotics piece alone has made our community safer,” he added.

Authorities confirmed that the firearms will be traced in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to determine their origins, though early indications suggest they were trafficked from southern states.