Digital Forensics Dispatch

Cell Phone Data Instrumental in Taking Down New York Gun Trafficking Ring

November 19, 2020

Vernal Douglas of Brooklyn was recently arrested along with three other men in connection with a more than yearlong investigation into the steady stream of illegal guns flowing into the city, according to the New York Daily News.

The investigation relied on digital evidence that allowed the police to trace the weapons all along their route. Douglas, a conductor for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had been making frequent trips to meet with a contact in South Carolina to purchase pistols which he then sold to another man in New York, Montoun Hart. Hart then resold the firearms to contacts in the city.

The investigators were able to put the pieces together using wiretaps and examining the cellphone text and picture messages between Douglas, his supplier in South Carolina and Hart. These messages included pictures of many of the guns involved. Using the information gained in the investigation, undercover officers were able to purchase 44 guns directly from Hart before making the arrests and charging the men on counts including criminal possession and sale of a firearm as well as conspiracy charges.

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