Rochester Police: 26 people facing drug and gun possession charges as part of multi-agency investigation

Andrew Hyman

[anvplayer video=”5062037″ station=”998131″]

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC)— Rochester Police say 26 people are facing multiple gun and drug possession charges as part of what investigations called a "large-scale distribution operation."

The results of the multi-agency investigation were released during a news conference at the Public Safety Building Thursday afternoon.

Investigators say they seized:

  • 34 guns (Including 26 illegal handguns)
  • Four kilos of cocaine
  • Two kilos of fentanyl
  • Three and a half pounds of marijuana
  • $148k in cash

Tables full of drugs and guns could be seen on display during the briefing.

Rochester Police Captain John Koonmen said a bulk of what was taken by police was collected during the searches of 28 locations across the City of Rochester, with most of the searches taking place on Sep,29. Police were able to obtain search warrants through "probable cause."

Koonmen said all of those arrested were connected but did not disclose how.

"Are we going to say that people are not going to see this and not worry that they’re next?" Koonmen said. "No. Maybe they will be thinking that they’re next. We want to really send a clear message to the citizens of the city of Rochester that we take it seriously.
We take gun violence very seriously. We take narcotics trafficking very seriously and, sometimes it takes us a while to build a case but we listen, we watch. We investigate. And when we can put the pieces together, you see what we can do."

A look at some of what was seized by investigators[News10NBC]

As far as the level of charges, prosecutors are working to find out if federal charges will be filed. Investigators say five people remain in custody while the rest are out on bail. Police also did not share any names of the people who were arrested.