MUGSHOTS: 22 arrested in Queensbridge Houses drug bust
LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) -- Almost two dozen people face drug and weapons charges after a drug bust at the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, the NYPD announced Thursday.
Following an 11-month-long undercover investigation dubbed "Operation: The Bridge Is Over," the NYPD executed nine search warrants and arrested 22 people, NYPD Deputy Inspector Donald Boller said.
The suspects are accused of selling narcotics, including heroin and crack cocaine, and police also said they seized four firearms during the investigation.
Police said they started investigating the Queensbridge House, New York City's largest public housing development, after noticing an uptick in violence. Since August 2017, five people were shot in and around the development.
The suspects were identified as:
-- Shalonda Anderson, 49, of Long Island City, is charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
-- Nathaniel Artis, 41, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
-- Julie Benjamin, 20, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal possession of a firearm.
-- Xena Benjamin, 22, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
-- Priscilla Carbajal, 26, of Jackson Heights, is charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
-- Jondell Harley, 31, of Long Island City, is charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
-- Anthony Johnson, 55, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
-- Darren Joseph, 52, of Jackson Heights, is charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
-- Robert Little-John, 20, of Long Island City, is charged with fourth-degree sale of marijuana.
-- Harold Martin, 66, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
-- Dawn Muhammad, 53, of Long Island City, is charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
-- Nathaniel Newell, 30, of Long Island City, is charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
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