Feds Nabbed 17 RI Gang Members, Fugitives and Drug Dealers In 3 Months: FBI

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Division of the FBI collared 17 gang members, fugitives and drug traffickers in Rhode Island as part of a "nationwide effort to crush violent crime," the bureau said in a media release.

The national undertaking, dubbed "Operation Summer Heat," according to the release, "led to 8,629 arrests, with more than 6,500 falling under the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang program."

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FBI Boston accounted for 404 of those arrests during the operations three months, ranking third among the FBI's field offices in total arrests, the release said.

The FBI’s Rhode Island Safe Streets Task Force and its partners were credited with the 17 Ocean State arrests, according to the release, which noted that in one case, "seven individuals were arrested on drug trafficking and firearms related charges, and large amounts of fentanyl pills, powder, cocaine, and seven firearms — to include an AR-15, five handguns and a Glock switch — were seized."

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In addition to the 404 arrests, FBI Boston, which includes all of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, made 129 seizures of deadly drugs, recovered 38 weapons, and identified or located 27 children.

“Operation Summer Heat is a snapshot of what our agents, task force officers, and analysts do daily to target, apprehend, and bring to justice the most dangerous, violent criminals wreaking havoc in our communities,” Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in the release.

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“This record-setting operation removed gang members, drug traffickers, child predators, and bank robbers from our streets," Docks said. "We could not have done this without the strong partnerships we have with our state and local law enforcement agencies. Rest assured, while summer is behind us, your FBI is not letting up.”

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FBI Boston listed the following "highlights" of the operation:

• FBI Boston’s Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Office, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Holyoke and Chicopee Police Departments targeted neighborhood-based gangs operating in Holyoke and open-air drug dealing at locations where shootings have occurred. As a result, 52 arrests were made this summer, and illegal firearms and drugs were seized, including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine.
• The FBI’s Southern Maine Gang Task Force and its partners made 35 arrests, executed 37 searches, and seized multiple firearms and narcotics, including 4.5 kilos of cocaine, 713 grams of fentanyl, 478 grams of methamphetamine, and 60 grams of crack cocaine.
• An FBI Boston, DEA New England, United States Postal Inspection Service and Massachusetts State Police investigation, with assistance from the Revere, Boston, and Worcester Police Departments, led to the arrests of two Massachusetts men and the seizure of approximately 73 kilos of cocaine worth an estimated street value of over $1 million.
• An FBI Major Offender Task Force in New Hampshire led to the indictments of 12 individuals for allegedly conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, carfentanil, and cocaine. The task force also arrested five others for allegedly conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery of a business in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

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