The Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force released more details on a major drug and weapons bust that took place last week in Johnson City.
According to police, the case resulted in the seizure of ghost guns and hundreds of thousands of doses of Methamphetamine.
The task force raided a home on Olive Street in Johnson City and arrested 69-year-old Robert Randesi, who is a two-time convicted felon for previous drug and weapons charges.
Police recovered eight ghost guns, a large amount of industrial equipment used to manufacture ghost guns and around 21 pounds of meth.
The Task Force worked with the US Attorney’s Office, FBI, DEA and ATF during the investigation.
Here is the complete release from the Binghamton Police Department:
On June 4, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Task Force executed a narcotics search warrant at a residence at 70 Olive Street in the Village of Johnson City.
Detectives arrested Robert Randisi, age 69, and seized 118 evidentiary items, including:
• Approximately 21 pounds of methamphetamine
• $24,125 in cash
• 3 suppressors
• 5 AR-style ghost rifles
• 3 semi-automatic ghost handguns
• Ammunition and gun parts
• Drug-packaging materials
• Industrial equipment allegedly used to manufacture ghost guns and gun parts
• Computer devices
• A vehicle
• Valuable items believed to have evidentiary value, including gold and silver bars, jewelry, and gems
Chief Brent Dodge: “𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘻𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 21 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴—𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III: “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺—𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦—𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli: “𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 20 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘙-𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”
Johnson City Mayor Christina Charuk: “𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸-𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦.”
Randisi was charged with:
• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree (Class A Felony)
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class C Felony)
He was remanded to the Broome County Jail. Additional state and federal charges are pending.
The investigation was conducted by the Special Investigations Unit, a task force composed of members of the Binghamton Police Department, Broome County Sheriff’s Office, and Johnson City Police Department. Assisting agencies included the FBI – Albany, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Broome County District Attorney’s Office.
Additional support was provided by the Johnson City Department of Public Works, the Broome County Highway Department, the Johnson City Fire Department, the Binghamton Fire Department, and the Owego Fire Department for evidence collection and transport.
