A gun-trafficking task force in Queens has been dismantled, leading to the recovery of nearly 200 firearms, including 11 assault weapons, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday.

According to QNS.comThe 579-count indictment charges Deundre Wright, 32, Abner Sparkes, 31, and Ethan Charles, 22, with trafficking and selling assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The three risk 25 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, a multi-agency investigation recovered 184 guns during the operation, which were allegedly transported as far as Queens, North Carolina, the report said.

“The majority of gun crime in New York City is illegally trafficked from other states with lax gun laws along the Iron Pipeline and fuels deadly gun violence in our communities,” James said. “This investigation shut down a major gun-trafficking operation that brought a wave of dangerous weapons, including assault weapons, from North Carolina to New York in just a few months.”

The investigation revealed that from March to July 2024, Wright would travel by bus from Manhattan to North Carolina and back, storing the firearms in his luggage. After bringing the guns to New York, Wright moved them to friends’ homes and kept them parked at the homes, the report said.

According to the report, Wright would set prices of $1,000 to $2,500 per gun, while Sparkes, who is meeting a customer in a car, conducts the sale in Cambria Heights and brings cash to Wright, who was parked nearby monitoring transactions, the report said.

“Today’s charges are a stark reminder that illegal high-powered firearms continue to proliferate and circulate in our communities, and NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners do the dangerous work of keeping them out of the hands of criminals on the street,” NYPD Acting Commissioner Thomas Donlon said.