Forty-six Indicted in Manhattan Drug Bust

After 22 months of investigation, Operation All the King’s Men has resulted in the indictment of 43 suspected drug dealers and three alleged gun dealers operating in Harlem. The bust was led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Homicide Investigation Unit and the New York City Police Department’s Narcotics Division and Firearms Investigation Unit in response to community complaints of drug activity around five elementary schools.

Of those indicted 28 were members of rival gangs the Kings Towers Crew and Schomburg Crew, which operate around the Martin Luther King, Jr. Houses, Schomburg Towers and Taft Houses. Thirteen defendants remain fugitives.

The King’s Tower Crew grossed over $1 million annually selling crack cocaine and PCP disguised in baby food jars, while the Schomburg crew represented over $500,000 in annual sales. Barbara Thompson, a spokesperson for the D.A. said these arrests indicated that PCP, once seen as a “boutique” drug is “making a comeback” on Manhattan’s streets.

-Heather Corcoran AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes