Boston man charged with running drug-trafficking ring

A Boston man is behind bars on charges that he ran a large drug-trafficking ring and shot one of his underlings.

Mujab Mubarak, also known as “Big Homie,” “Easy” and “E,” was arrested Friday and charged federally with conspiring to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl and use and possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime.

The FBI wrote in the criminal complaint against him that Mubarak “was responsible for a large drug trafficking organization and employed multiple lower-level co-conspirators as part of his distribution network,” according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

The feds tossed a confidential informant $50,000 for his work with them in nabbing Mubarak, according to the complaint. The FBI wrote that the yet-unidentified “Cooperating Witness 1” met multiple times with Mubarak starting in the summer of 2017, and bought drugs from Mubarak and his crew at least 20 times. The FBI said the witness usually bought heroin or fentanyl, but sometimes cocaine or cocaine base, which is commonly known as crack.

Mubarak is accused of shooting fellow drug slinger Vito Gray on July 1, 2017, on Dale Street in Boston. The case remained unsolved until the feds’ informant said he heard Mubarak talking about how he’d shot Gray because of a “disagreement related to their drug trafficking and money laundering activity,” as the criminal complaint puts it. Gray survived the shooting.

The FBI says it has a recording of Mubarak talking about shooting Gray, who’d allegedly been transporting drugs through Logan International Airport for Mubarak. Gray claimed the cops seized some money but Mubarak thought Gray had simply pocketed it — even though, the feds note, Gray actually was telling the truth.

Mubarak, if convicted on both counts, would face a mandatory minimum of five years for the gun charge, and could face up to life in federal prison.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3klKSeF