Sidhu
A Greenwood man is one of five men accused of selling illegal “ghost guns” as part of New York-based gun trafficking operation.
Milanjit Sidhu, 20, has been indicted in Queens County, New York, on 32 charges including conspiracy in the fourth degree, criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and criminal possession of a firearm in the first degree. The charges against Sidhu and four other men were announced by New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday.
The four other men charged were all from New York: 21-year-old Mateo Castro-Agudelo and 20-year-olds Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, Satveer Saini and Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas.
A total of 625 charges were filed against the five men for their roles in the Queens-based operation. All of them are facing the same charges as Sidhu and more, according to court documents.
The charges of criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and/or criminal possession of a firearm in the first degree are Class B felonies in New York. If convicted of one count of either of these crimes, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, prosecutors say.
An investigation led by the Organized Crime Task Force of the New York State Attorney General’s Office recovered 86 firearms, including 55 “ghost guns” — unregistered and untraceable homemade weapons — and 25 assault weapons, along with over 90 high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Those involved in the operation transported 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County, New York, and serialized firearms purchased in Indiana into Queens, where they were stored and sold, New York prosecutors say.
The take-down of the operation was the result of a joint investigation between the Organized Crime Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations New York and the New York City Police Department. The investigation included controlled firearms purchase operations, covert video surveillance, social media monitoring and analysis of financial and telephone records.
Law enforcement began an investigation into the organization in late 2023, focusing on the activities of Saini and the other four men charged. Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and Senhaji-Rivas reportedly paid over $27,000 to purchase firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York, according to prosecutors.
Early on in the investigation, Saini and Castro-Agudelo were allegedly driving from Indianapolis to Queens with weapons purchased in Indiana when they were stopped for speeding by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Medina County, Ohio. The traffic stop recovered nine unloaded serialized handguns from inside Saini’s rental car, New York prosecutors say.
This is where Sidhu, from Greenwood, came in. From this point on, Fernandez-Gonzalez reportedly began paying Sidhu to drive weapons from Indianapolis to Queens. This began around early March of this year, continuing into April, according to prosecutors.
Sidhu allegedly transported the guns in a white Honda Accord belonging to him. The car even had a license plate with his name on it, court documents show.
As for the other men, Fernandez-Gonzalez also allegedly bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County, New York, and brought them to Queens for other members of the trafficking ring to sell. Saini, Castro-Agudelo and Senhaji-Rivas all sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines and ammunition during the course of the New York investigation, prosecutors say.
Saini allegedly sold these firearms in various locations in Queens. Castro-Agudelo and Fernandez-Gonzalez stored the weapons in a garage — at one point hiding 12 firearms, including seven ghost guns, and numerous high-capacity magazines inside a guitar case in the garage. Castro-Agudelo used the guitar case to transport firearms and ammunition to his customers. At least one of the firearms sales he made took place outside of a smoke shop where he worked, according to prosecutors.
Castro-Agudelo reportedly posted pictures of these guns on social media accounts, including on a public X account, displaying many of the guns and significant amounts of cash, prosecutors say.
Sidhu has not yet appeared in New York for court. He was booked into the Johnson County jail on Tuesday afternoon, where he is held without bond pending extradition to New York. An extradition hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Friday in Johnson Superior Court 3.
