Northeast Philly drug investigation uncovers gun making operation, police say

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A four-month drug investigation in Northeast Philadelphia uncovered what prosecutors say was a gun manufacturing operation in the city’s Somerton section.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said investigators found more than $1.5 million worth of drugs, 24 operational firearms and enough parts to assemble 23 additional guns in the facility.

“That’s 47 guns,” Krasner said. “One of these guns alone is a .50-caliber weapon that is banned for use against people by the Geneva Convention.”

Police say that officers seized over 20,000 to 25,000 rounds of ammunition for the guns, which Krasner said could have been deadly.

“The amount of harm that could have been done … with these guns is beyond measure,” he said.

Included among the weapons police say they found is a .50-caliber rifle that is used for entering buildings and taking down vehicles in military combat, along with a sniper rifle, several semiautomatic assault weapons and shotguns used by police SWAT teams. There were also between 100 and 200 high-capacity magazines, police said, including some drum magazines, which can carry 50 to 60 rounds of ammunition on the “AR” style rifles, and a “bulletproof vest.”

Police said they seized 2.5 to 5 kilograms of cocaine and about 4,000 MDMA pills and a crystallized form of the drug, commonly known as molly.

There were also 60 pounds of marijuana, police said, and about 16 pounds of psychedelic mushrooms, which are a Schedule I controlled substance, according to Assistant DA Steve German, who is assigned to prosecute the case.

Cash in the amount of $17,000 was also recovered as part of the seizure, according to police.

Police and the DA would not give specifics on where the homes were, and the affidavits of probable cause have been sealed for the time being because of an ongoing investigation, according to Krasner.

It all began with Pennsylvania State Police acting on a tip and finding two homes where the guns and drugs were allegedly stored.

Yandra Kamberag, 26, and Thodore Manko, 45, are in custody facing a litany of charges, including drug distribution and building ghost guns, which are untraceable firearms. The 3D printers and the filament used to manufacture handgun parts were also recovered in the raid, according to police.