WaHi Gang Bust: '6 Block' Members Ran 'Open Air Drug Market'

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — An eight-month investigation has led to the arrest of 12 alleged members of the "Six Block" gang, accused of peddling oxycodone, cocaine, heroin, Xanax and marijuana in Washington Heights.

Six Block has been operating on West 160th to 167th streets between Broadway and Fort Washington Avenue, according to New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor. Thirteen men tied to the gang were arrested in a massive gang bust beginning Wednesday night and continuing into Thursday morning.

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In what prosecutors called an "open air drug market," members of the Six Block gang are alleged to have sold nearly $24,000 in drugs to undercover officers — mostly between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the vicinity of West 163rd Street and Broadway.

Gang members would set up transactions through calls and text messages, but also sold drugs to people on the street, prosecutors said.

In the two largest deals, undercover officers were sold batches of cocaine worth $2,750 and $2,710, respectively, prosecutors said. During an investigation into of the defendants, Nolan Munoz, investigators said they watched him sell drugs with a child in his vehicle.

The investigation also revealed that a father-son duo, Eric Wiggins Sr. and Eric Wiggins Jr., worked together to supply local drug dealers with cocaine and pills, prosecutors said.

During the eight-month investigation into Six Block, law-enforcement officials said they conducted extensive surveillance on the alleged gang members and monitored their posts on social media, some of which allegedly showed the suspects flashing gang signs.

The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor has charged each of the defendants, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, with "criminal sale of a controlled substance" and "criminal sale of marijuana." A 14th individual — one of the defendant's girlfriends, prosecutors said — was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.

"Today, working with our partners in the NYPD and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, we cleared more than a dozen members of a drug dealing group that claimed ownership of a 'Six Block' swath of upper Manhattan, clogging a busy thoroughfare during rush hour with open narcotics trafficking, and returned the area to the community," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said in a statement.

"Every resident in this city is entitled to travel our streets and enjoy scarce public spaces free of drug peddling and all of the crime that accompanies it," Brennan said.

Here's a list of the alleged members of the "Six Blocks" gang arrested overnight:

• Christopher Rivas of Fort Washington Avenue
• Jonathan Alvarado of West 163rd Street
• Mercedes Sigfrido (unknown address)
• Darrel Gonell of West 163rd Street
• Jonathan Grullon of West 162nd Street
• Nolan Munoz (unknown address)
• Francisco Gomez of West 163rd Street
• Rodolfo Perez of Riverside Drive
• Alex Andujar of West 162nd Street
• Eduard Figueroa of West 163rd Street
• Eric Wiggins Jr. of West 164th Street
• Eric Wiggins Sr. of 7th Avenue

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