The strike forces, including one in New York, would be led by US lawyers who would work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, law enforcement agencies and other agencies, the Justice Department said.
Audrey Strauss, the U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of New York, said the arms smuggling operation relied on Duvaughn Wilson, the Georgia buyer who was charged in the indictment.
In his role as a purchaser of straw, Ms. Strauss said Mr. Wilson “pretended to be buying guns for himself when in fact buying them illegally for the New York defendants”.
Wilson used his own name to buy the guns from at least six licensed sellers in Georgia, but signed forms stating that he was not buying them on behalf of anyone else, the indictment said.
Mr. Wilson has pleaded not guilty; his lawyer declined to comment.
The indictment alleged that Courtney Schloss, one of the defendants who ordered the guns, and in many cases the people he resold them to, were members of a Brooklyn-based group of aspiring rappers known as the Blixky Gang. Mr. Schloss also pleaded not guilty; His lawyer could not be reached for comment.
Members of the group produced music videos that appear on YouTube and other social media platforms, the indictment said. And while its members sometimes resold guns they got from the ring, some kept stocks of the guns for their own use, including making music videos, the government claimed.
One such video, called “Word to Folk,” was uploaded to a popular video streaming platform in October and showed attendees holding firearms, many of which appeared to have been purchased by Georgia buyer, Mr. Wilson, the newspaper said Indictment.
