NEW YORK – The Queens district attorney announced it had filed hundreds of charges against a Maryland man after investigators found enough parts to build more than 70 ghost guns.
Queens DA Melinda Katz said Wenli Bai is facing 129 counts of criminal possession of a weapon and hundreds of counts for other crimes. Investigators said in addition to possessing enough parts to build 74 ghost guns, Bai had the parts for 129 high-capacity magazines as well.
Photo of ghost gun components seized as part of the investigation.
Bai, who is from Maryland, is accused of selling undercover agents dozens of gun kits at meetings in New York, WNBC reported.
“Ghost guns” are guns made by individuals using unfinished pieces. Unfinished pieces are unregulated, and thus allow people who would not normally be able to access firearms to get them, according to Brady, an organization that targets gun violence. The guns are largely untraceable and generally do not have serial numbers.
President Joe Biden has made fighting ghost guns a priority of his administration, announcing last month plans to launch a national ghost gun enforcement initiative that will train prosecutors and help investigators track down and prosecute people who use ghost guns to commit crimes.
“As gun violence continues to plague our communities, eliminating ghost guns has become more important than ever. This massive takedown is critical to our efforts to stop the trafficking of these untraceable and unregulated weapons into New York,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Investigators said when they arrested Bai and searched his vehicle, they found dozens more items, including build kits and parts.
If convicted, Bai faces up to 7 years in prison, WNBC reported.
