New York Police Department officers raided an open-air market run by illegal migrants on Roosevelt Avenue near 91 Street in Jackson Heights, the New York Post reported.
A day before the raid, the Post published an exposé on the illicit street market, where migrants have been selling stolen goods at discounted prices. Most of the items were snagged off the shelves of nearby businesses, which have been complaining about an uptick in shoplifting. Merchants and residents have made more than two dozen calls to 311 this year to report the illegal activity in the area.
Each morning for several months, migrants have been laying blankets and towels on the street to display the stolen goods for sale. The items range from power tools to hygiene products. Tags belonging to the merchant from which the ill-gotten goods were stolen remain on some of the items.
The block has also become overrun by illicit brothels, with sex workers roaming the streets in search of customers.
The Post reported that NYPD officers raided the street market on Monday after 4:30 p.m. and seized some of the stolen merchandise.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said, “We responded today.”
“We’ve been here before, whether it be brothels, illegal bikes, vending now. So, this will be a continuing process. It’s gonna take a while but we owe it to the residents of Queens,” he explained.
According to the news outlet, spotters informed many of the illegal vendors about the impending raid, affording them enough time to flee the scene before officers arrived. Prostitutes were reportedly seen ducking into nearby buildings to avoid police.
A spokesperson for the NYPD told the Post that no arrests were made as a result of the Monday raid.
One neighbor said the illegal market would be back up and running after police leave the area.
“They’ll be back. No question,” the resident told the news outlet. “The TV cameras and the cops ran them off today, but they’ll all be back tonight.”
Milton Reyes, who manages a pharmacy on the block, told the Post earlier this week that the situation is “relentless.”
“[Police] will come by and they will pick up a few of them. But as soon as the police car pulls away, they start moving back. Twenty minutes later, they’re all set up again like nothing happened,” Reyes remarked.
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