Officials Hunt for 400 Stolen Weapons

Police and federal agents were looking for nearly 400 stolen semiautomatic weapons they believe were sold or given away on the streets of one of New York’s highest crime areas by a crack-using deliveryman. Edward Villegas, 37, was to have transported the guns from an Iberia Airlines cargo warehouse at John F. Kennedy International Airport to New Jersey, police said. Instead, police allege, he went on a crack-smoking binge and sold or swapped the guns to get money for drugs. “We heard they were calling him Santa Claus on the street,” a law enforcement source said. Villegas was arrested over the weekend and will be charged in federal court with firearms violations, police said.