For the second time in as many weeks, police have busted a day care center in the city. This time, authorities took down a ghost gun operation located inside of a registered day care center in East Harlem.

Police said 18-year-old Karon Coley, who was arraigned Wednesday night, was running the operation out of his mother’s apartment on East 117th Street, which also operated as a day care center.

“This is a heartbreaking scenario,” Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday. “Thinking you’re dropping your child off to a safe haven just to find out that it was a dangerous environment where someone was making a gun inside.”

The facility, according to police, could accommodate a dozen children as young as six weeks old.

“3D printed guns have dedicated online forums explaining how they work, and as today’s arrest shows, these types of guns have captured the attention of our kids,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban said at a news conference Wednesday.

Police said they started investigating a group of people who were buying ghost guns online, as well as materials to make 3D firearms. 

Detectives executed search warrants on Tuesday and said they discovered a 3D printer, two fully completed printed firearms and an assault pistol, among other paraphernalia.

“When made well, ghost guns and 3D printed firearms operate just like commercial firearms,” explained Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner. “In the hands of teenagers, they can inflict just as much violence.”

Coley faces several charges, including criminal possession of a loaded firearm, manufacturing a machine gun, and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, according to authorities. Two other people were arrested as well — both of them minors.

“The circumstances surrounding these arrests are part of a larger trend that’s become a global problem, namely the manufacture and sale of privately made firearms, which include ghost guns, as well as 3D printed firearms,” Weiner said.

The ghost gun bust comes nearly two weeks after a 1-year-old boy died after overdosing on fentanyl inside another day care in the Bronx. Three other children overdosed, but each survived.

“These new methods of creating unsafe environments demand that we stay ahead of those who are doing terrible things in centers where we place our children,” Adams said.

In this latest case, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene last inspected the facility on Feb. 13, officials said.

According to the city, the day care received three violations related to documentation around feeding, sleeping schedules and health history; all violations were later corrected. 

Currently, there are more than 7,000 home-based day care sites located throughout the five boroughs, according to city data. Adams said prevention must start at home.

“While social media is teaching kids to do dangerous things, we need to teach parents to stay one step ahead,” he said.

It’s unclear if Coley’s mother was aware that a ghost gun operation was happening inside her home or whether she will face charges. The facility was shut down Wednesday.

Speaking with NY1 on Thursday, Coley's attorney, Michael Jaccarino, said the 18-year-old had just graduated from high school and had no prior criminal record.  

Jaccarino said there was no indication that Coley bought the ghost gun materials, adding that it was unclear to whom they belonged.

The attorney also said there was no indication that children at the day care were exposed to the firearms, as they were with drugs at the Bronx day care, and disputed any attempts to compare the two cases. 

"My understanding is that the police recovered the firearms from a bedroom which is not part of the day care," Jaccarino said.