NEW YORK (CNN) -- Five active and three retired officers of the New York Police Department are among 12 people charged Tuesday with conspiring to transport and distribute firearms and stolen goods, according to federal authorities. "A group of crime fighters took to moonlighting as criminals," Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference. The defendants are charged in an alleged conspiracy to transport and distribute untraceable firearms across state lines. and conspiracy to transport supposedly stolen and counterfeit goods including cigarettes from Virginia and slot machines from Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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The charges stem from an undercover investigation that began in 2009, authorities say
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The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the NYPD's internal affairs bureau
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U.S. attorney: "A group of crime fighters took to moonlighting as criminals"
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The conspiracy involved untraceable firearms, and purportedly stolen goods
According to the charges filed Tuesday, the defendants were engaged in the theft and transport of over 200 cases of cigarettes from tractor-trailers in @placeholder.