Citing arrests, Suffolk DA says he sees more guns on LI

The arrests of two men on weapons-trafficking charges shows that guns are proliferating on Long Island, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said Monday.

Displaying more than a dozen guns, rifles and semiautomatic weapons he said were seized from a ring that allegedly brought guns from Florida to Long Island, Spota told reporters that shootings appeared to be on the rise.

"The bullets are flying just about every night of the week somewhere in Suffolk County," Spota said.

He said Carlos Garcia, 47, of Central Islip, Santos Garcia, 39, of Huntington Station, and Romel Garcia, 43, of Spring Hill, Fla., purchased guns in Florida and sold them on Long Island.

Carlos and Romel Garcia are brothers. It was unclear if they are related to Santos Garcia, Spota said.

The trio primarily sold weapons to members of gangs such as MS-13, Spota said.

A Suffolk grand jury on Friday handed up an indictment charging Carlos Garcia with first-degree criminal sale of a firearm for selling 10 or more weapons in one year. He also faces drug charges for selling cocaine, Spota said.

Santos Garcia was charged in the same indictment with third-degree criminal sale of a firearm for selling a weapon from the Brentwood bodega he manages, Spota said.

Carlos Garcia was held in the Suffolk jail on $1 million cash bail. Santos Garcia was released July 3 on $25,000 bail. Their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

At a news conference Monday, Spota held up a .40-caliber Glock handgun bought by undercover agents and said it was the same kind used by Suffolk police. "It would have been in the hands of members of MS-13," he said.

Spota said a .357-caliber Glock seized in the probe was "more powerful than the weapon that we give to our police."

Undercover officers spent $6,000 to $7,000 to purchase most of the weapons seized in the nine-month investigation, Spota said. A Derringer pistol was found beneath Carlos Garcia's pillow in his bedroom, Spota said.

Romel Garcia is being held in jail in Hernando County, Fla., where he has been charged with possession of a stolen gun, possession of a defaced weapon, grand theft and aggravated assault of a police officer, Spota said.

After charging members of a Hernando County SWAT team with a samurai sword when they tried to arrest him, Romel Garcia shot one of the officers in the chest with a gun loaded with a bean bag, Spota said. The officer survived.