More Than 90 Firearms Illegally Sent from Kentucky and Tennessee to Streets of Chicago
A 21-count superseding indictment unsealed Wednesday charges 12 individuals with conspiring to violate federal firearms statutes, including engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license; transporting and receiving firearms into another state; making false statements to a federally licensed firearm dealer; conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and to use and carry firearms in relation to crimes of violence; and conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as other related substantive offenses.
“The Justice Department recognizes that fighting violent crime requires approaches tailored to the needs of individual communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “But gun violence can be a problem that is too big for any one community, any one city, or any one agency to solve. That is why our approach to disrupting gun violence and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals rests on the kind of coordination you see here today.”
Wednesday morning, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), IRS-Criminal Investigation (CI) and officers from the Chicago Police Department and the Davenport, Iowa, Police Department began arresting those charged in the indictment. As of this morning, six of those charged are in custody and the remaining defendants are currently being sought by law enforcement.
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