Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced today that Mouhamadou Sylla and Ncodjigui Sanogo are variously charged in a 131-count indictment with conspiracy, criminal sale of a firearm, weapon possession and other crimes for selling illegal guns during a long-term undercover investigation. One firearm sale took place outside the entrance of a Queens College building while Sanogo was in uniform and on duty as a security guard during the transaction.

District Attorney Katz said: “Getting guns off the street has to be our priority.  These are 38 guns that will never be fired in our communities. One defendant went as far as selling a loaded .38-caliber revolver while working in uniform as a security guard on the Queens College campus. I thank the brave undercover NYPD officers who put themselves in harm’s way to get these deadly weapons off the street and I commend the prosecutors in my Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau for their work on this investigation.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: “The defendants in this case created a firearms trafficking operation to funnel dozens of dangerous weapons into our city, including untraceable ghost guns, a TEC-9, and a semiautomatic Glock conversion device. Thanks to our 13-month undercover investigation, the NYPD has taken 38 illegal firearms out of circulation. Large-scale seizures of this kind demonstrate the NYPD’s precision-policing plan in action, which has helped to take nearly 1,500 guns off our streets so far this year. I thank our brave NYPD investigators for their work in shutting down this operation, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in holding these criminals accountable.”

Sylla, 25, of West Harlem, and Sanogo, 29, of Harlem, were charged in a 131-count indictment with criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second  degree, six counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal possession of a firearm.

Sylla was additionally charged with 24 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, 68 counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree, 15 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, six counts of criminal possession of a firearm, criminal sale of a ghost gun, criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree, attempted criminal sale of a weapon in the second and third degrees and two counts of attempted criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree.

The defendants were arraigned on Tuesday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino who remanded them and ordered them to return to court June 9. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the indictment and investigation, in April 2025 the NYPD Firearms Suppression Division and the Queens District Attorney’s office began an undercover investigation into illegal gun sales in New York City.

On June 10, 2025, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Sylla and Sanogo allegedly sold a loaded and operable .38-caliber Titan Tiger revolver to an undercover officer for $1,250. The sale took place on Kissena Boulevard outside a building at Queens College where Sanogo was employed by a private company as a security guard at the school. He was on duty and in uniform during the sale and re-entered Kissena Hall after the transaction.

Sylla then allegedly sold two guns to an undercover officer in a College Point parking lot on June 17, 2025, at approximately 1:45 p.m., and one gun on July 2, 2025, at approximately 7:40 p.m.

One gun was sold to an undercover officer on June 19, 2025, at approximately 3:40 p.m., in the Melrose section of the Bronx.

Twelve gun sales occurred on a Woodhaven street bordering Forest Park from August 28, 2025, through April 8, 2026.

Sylla drove a 2022 Kia sedan to the transactions and allegedly sold the guns for approximately $1,200 each. Sanogo allegedly served as a courier in three of the 16 transactions.

Of the 38 guns sold in the investigation, two were reported stolen in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Another handgun acquired during the investigation is connected to multiple shootings in Newark, New Jersey. Most of the guns sold to the undercover officers were loaded and the purchases included a machine gun and 9 mm pistols.

Sylla was apprehended in Queens and Sanogo in Manhattan Tuesday morning by members of the Firearms Suppression Section of the NYPD.

The investigation was conducted by Assistant District Attorney Loren Vetrano of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau along with Detective Michael Vila with the NYPD Firearms Investigation Unit under the supervision of Sergeant Todd Hansen, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Heilig, Commanding Officer of the Firearms Suppression Section, all under the overall supervision of Assistant Chief Levon Holley, Commanding Officer of Citywide Task Force Division, and Chief Joseph Kenny, Chief of Detectives.

Assistant District Attorneys Loren Vetrano  and Andres J. Sanchez of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Natasha Levy under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett, Bureau Chief, and Barry Frankenstein and Philip Anderson, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Joseph T. Conley III.