Seven members of the New York Police Department have been arrested for allegedly running a prostitution and gambling ring, it has been announced.
The suspects include three sergeants, two detectives, and two officers in addition to more than 40 civilians who have been taken into custody, according to the New York Post.
The NYPD personnel who were arrested have been stripped of their badges and guns, the New York Daily News reported.
They have been identified as Sgt. Carlos Cruz of the 69th Precinct in Brooklyn; Sgt. Louis Failla of the Queens South Evidence Control Team; Sgt. Cliff Nieves of the Transit Bureau investigation unit; Police Officer Steven Nieves of the 84th Precinct in Brooklyn Heights; Police Officer Giancarlo Raspanti of the 109th Precinct in Flushing, Queens; Detective Gionanny Rojas-Acosta of the NYPD’s Criminal Investigations Division; and Detective Rene Samaniego of the Brooklyn South Vice Squad.
All seven face charges of official misconduct and enterprise corruption.
One of the civilians arrested is a retired vice detective who is married to a prostitute, it has been reported. The retired vice detective and his wife are suspected of operating multiple brothels on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens as well as in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn.
The arrests are the culmination of a years-long investigation involving “hundreds of hours of surveillance and multiple (wiretaps).”
The investigation was supervised by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Investigators reportedly raided the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park. Once inside, the desk supervisor was told to take the investigators to the locker belonging to a detective. Internal Affairs personnel then busted open the lock and removed evidence from the locker, the Post reported.
Investigators then went to the home of the detective and detained him.
The NYPD officers arrested in the case are accused of providing protection for a prostitution, drugs, and gambling ring.
