Cape Cod's 'Nauti' Gang Implicated in Murder, Gun-running, Heroin Distribution

Photo: Seized weapons that allegedly belonged to the Nauti gang on Cape Cod. (Credit: Yarmouth police)

Cape Cod's notorious "Nauti" street gang suffered a major blow this week as 13 alleged members were arrested in an undercover sting.

Three members were charged with the September 2015 revenge killing of Christine Ferreira, a 30-year-old Barnstable woman who testified against the gang in 2011, prosecutors said. She was stabbed and shot several times; her body was dumped at a Barnstable rest area.

The murder suspects are:

• Denzel Chisholm, aka “Den” and “Din,” 26 years old, of Barnstable
• Shannelle Chisholm, 26, of Mashpee
• Tyrone Gomes, 31, of Hyannis

The Chisolms are brother and sister.

Denzel Chisholm and Christopher Wilkins, aka “Degree” and “Half Circle,” 29, of Hyannis, were allegedly the gang's ringleaders, according to U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

"(They) are responsible for a significant quantity of the heroin that has been distributed on Cape Cod," Ortiz said in a statement. "Chisholm and Wilkins pooled money and purchased heroin from a common source, which they then distributed to their customers."

Nine other alleged Nauti members arrested this week included:

• Eelyese Mateo, aka “El Chapo,” 20, of Hyannis
• Bethanne Hutchings, 50, of Hyannis
• Oliver Hamilton, 26, of Hyannis
• Stephanie Davis, 21, of Harwich
• Anthony Hall, aka “Nova,” 31, of Sandwich
• Brooke Cotell, 22, of Hyannis
• Shaun Miller, aka “Shizz” and “Shizz Miller,” 31, of Hyannis
• Jason Mello, 27, of Barnstable
• Benjamin Roderick, aka “B Dot,” 26, of Hyannis

They were all charged with heroin-related offenses. Another man, Matthew Monroe, 25, of Barnstable, was arrested on gun charges after allegedly selling an Uzi to an informant, police said.

Mateo was Chisholm's girlfriend, prosecutors said. She allegedly stored heroin at her Hyannis home. More heroin was stored at a stash house ran by Hutchings, who recently overdosed and had to be revived with Narcan delivered first responders, prosecutors said.

The heroin was tinted blue and sold all over the Cape, prosecutors said.

Police said the gang trafficking guns; Wilkins would allegedly trade heroin for a weapon, police said.

Ortiz said the investigation started in October in response to the state's "rising" opiate abuse crisis. Barnstable and Bristol counties each have an overdose death rate of 16-20 per 100,000 people, which is the highest in Massachusetts and exceeds the national average, Ortiz said.

The investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, State Police, and Barnstable police.