Fall River man arrested after year-long narcotics, firearms sales investigation
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — The New Bedford Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) collaborated in a year-long investigation culminating in the arrest of a Fall River man on charges of selling illegal narcotics and firearms on a cloud-based app.
Benjamin Hunt, 26, was arrested on August 28th on three counts of distribution of controlled substances and one count of transferring machine guns.
Hunt is accused of advertising counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl and other drugs, along with firearms and firearm parts.
Ghost guns and machine gun conversion devices called switches, which convert firearms into fully automatic weapons, were also allegedly advertised.
Residences in New Bedford and Fall River were searched under warrants leading to authorities seizing the following items:
- Thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamines
- 55 grams of suspected cocaine
- Three assault rifles
- 39 “ghost gun” Glock-style pistols
- Three rifle silencers
- 22 machine gun conversion devices aka “switches”
- A 50-round drum magazine
- 10 31-round extended magazines
- And two 3D printers
An alleged associate of Hunt, Marcell Goncalves, 27, of New Bedford, was also arrested for alleged possession of a ghost gun identical to those discovered in Hunt’s possession.
