A huge takedown of a statewide drug operation.
State Police arrested five men during five separate investigations. It was the largest single day seizures in Rhode Island State Police history.
On Thursday, February 15, 2024, the Rhode Island State Police HIDTA Task Force, assisted by members of the Rhode Island State Police Detective Bureau, Providence Police Department, Pawtucket Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, concluded several months of unrelated narcotics and firearms investigations and seized weapons and a significant number of narcotics at locations in Providence, Johnston, Smithfield, and Warwick.
“I want to commend our detectives and law enforcement partners for their great work on these investigations,” said Colonel Darnell S. Weaver, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Director of the Department of Public Safety. “As a result of their outstanding work, we took a tremendous amount of deadly narcotics off the street and seized illegal guns."
In total, members of the State Police HIDTA Task Force seized:
33 kilograms of fentanyl
4.5 kilograms of cocaine
3.3 kilograms of Methamphetamine
170 grams of Heroin
17 pounds of Marijuana
Sig Sauer .45 caliber pistol (loaded
Smith and Wesson .380 caliber pistol
Glock .45 caliber pistol
Berretta 9mm pistol
Smith and Wesson .380 caliber pistol with obliterated serial number
numerous extended magazines,
narcotics distribution materials, and a large sum of United States Currency.
The five are all being held without the right to bail. No other information is being released.
(Photo Credit: Rhode Island State Police)