A group of eight migrants who sources said were found squatting in the basement of a New York City apartment with a child are facing drugs and weapons charges after police found ketamine, cocaine and guns at the home.
The NYPD busted the migrants Wednesday after authorities were called to a Bronx apartment following a report of a person displaying a gun just after 10 p.m., police said.
When police arrived, they found a man pointing a gun at someone in the driveway of the apartment at 3259 Hull Ave., NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told the New York Post. But the suspect took off when the police approached him and fled into the building’s basement, he added.
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The officers allegedly chased and tackled the man, who they later identified as Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, of Venezuela, who was arrested for attempted murder last year and subsequently let go.
While police were collaring Desousa-Villalta, another man, Javier Alborno, 22, also of Venezuela, tried to sneak out of the same basement with a handgun tucked under his arm. But the officers saw him and cuffed him too, Chell added. Alborno is also no stranger to law enforcement, having been arrested in September and indicted for possession of a loaded gun.
A search of the basement apartment revealed two additional guns and a large quantity of a controlled substance, police said.
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The weapons included a “ghost gun” and three extended magazines, a box of ammunition, a bag of ketamine and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine, the Post reported, citing Chell.
Police also found a 7-year-old child inside the apartment. The NYPD was unable to say who the child’s parents are.
Many of the eight suspects are from the South American country and all of them were squatting in the house, Fox News sources say.
Video from the scene shows bags of trash, a chair, a mattress and other items strewn across the backyard of the property. There is also an inflatable pool partly filled with water and a moped at the side of the house. A wheelchair could also be seen on the front porch.
Bags of trash, a chair, a mattress and other items in the backyard. (WNYW)
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Alfred Munoz, a neighbor, described what he saw.
“There were a lot of people, a lot of young people, a lot of motorcycles,” Munoz told WNYW. “You know, at one point, you know, there were seven, eight motorcycles parked in the back.”
Documents viewed by Fox News Digital reveal that the landlord moved to evict the tenants of the building in October after their lease term ended Oct. 13. It does not name the tenants. It is unclear if people are still squatting at the house.
In total, eight people, including one woman, 20-year-old Yoessy Pino Castillo, were arrested in relation to last week’s incident. The remaining men collared were Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, 25, Yojairo Martinez, 42, Miquel Vaamondes-Barrios, 31, Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39, Johan Cardenas Silva, 35.
All eight were charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance and acting in a manner injurious to a child, police say.
The backyard of the property was littered with used items and trash. (WNYW)
Desousa-Villalta, who was allegedly waving a gun last Wednesday, was cut loose without bail despite the Bronx District Attorney’s Office telling Fox News that prosecutors asked that he be held on $150,000 bail.
He allegedly shot a fellow migrant in the leg during an argument over a woman in Yonkers in August 2023, but the attempted murder case fell apart when the victim refused to cooperate, Chell said, according to the Post.
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Alborno, who police say also had a gun Wednesday night, was still in custody as of Tuesday, the Bronx DA’s office said.
Alborno was indicted for possession of a loaded gun in September and cut loose after that incident even though the Bronx district attorney requested $10,000 bail, the Post reported, citing Chell.
Vaamondes-Barrios is also being held and wanted for retail theft and shoplifting in both New York and Pennsylvania.
The remaining six migrants have all been let go without bail despite the Bronx DA requesting bail for them.
Fox News’ Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.