NYC authorities arrest NC man who brought 'bags full of guns,' sold them in Harlem

A North Carolina man was indicted in New York City on charges he took more than $40,000 worth of guns into Manhattan and sold them to an undercover officer with the New York Police Department, officials announced Tuesday.

"Tyreke Colon is charged with more than 40 criminal counts after selling firearms in bulk to an undercover detective on three separate occasions in Harlem," District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference Tuesday. "In total, Colon sold 36 guns worth over $40,000."

Bragg described Colon's gun trafficking as brazen, saying the 24-year-old was selling "bags full of guns and made the sales in broad daylight in the middle of bustling Manhattan."

The sales included pistols, revolvers and semi-automatic rifles, and took place at a gas station.

Colon was arrested in Manhattan on May 19, where he was "in possession of five semi-automatic pistols and an AR-15-style assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine as he got off a bus from North Carolina," according to a news release from the DA's office.

The alleged sales to the undercover officer took place several times between February and April 2022, officials said.

Colon is charged with multiple counts of criminal sale of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.

CNN reached out to Mildred Morillo, an attorney representing Colon, for comment but did not hear back at the time of publication.

"The charges are the result of a proactive investigation which employed courageous undercovers including undercover gun buys, court-authorized wiretaps and other investigative techniques," Bragg announced.

Wiretaps and investigations revealed Colon came to Manhattan with the purpose of selling firearms in the city, and he allegedly recruited people he knew in the Rocky Mount area to obtain gun permits and buy guns that he would deliver and sell in New York City, the DA added.

Colon, of 71 Walkabout Lane in Battleboro, was first arrested in 2016 for resisting an officer, and was scheduled to be in court this week on a 2021 charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

"This case illustrates how the iron pipeline continues to pose a direct and immediate threat to the safety of all New Yorkers," Bragg said in the news release.

"While we are fortunate to have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, they are far too often undermined by the easy availability of guns in many other states," Bragg said.