PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Providence police say they’ve seized a large amount of drugs and guns after raiding a home on Sisson St.
Police displayed the drugs–which include cocaine, heroin and fentanyl–at a media briefing about the bust. There were also several firearms including an AK-47, rifles and a machete.
Major David Lapatin said Luis Mercedes, 27, Vladimir Brito, 26 and Ernes Garcia were all arrested and are facing narcotics charges.
Lapatin said the arrests are the result of a three-month investigation by the narcotics unit. Officers initially stopped a car and discovered 500 grams of cocaine. That led to a search warrant for 95 Sisson Street, where police found the rest of the drugs and guns.
Police recovered one kilo of cocaine, one kilo of heroin, two kilos of fentanyl and 2,000 Oxycontin pills. The drugs were hidden in a secret compartment of a piece of furniture, which police also seized.
“That amount of fentanyl would kill a lot of people in the city of Providence,” Col. Hugh Clements said.
Lapatin said the suspects were not previously known to police.
Police are checking the serial numbers on the firearms to see where they came from, and if any had been stolen.
“These are the challenges and dangers that we deal with every single day,” Col. Hugh Clements said. “It takes a long time to take this type of operation down.”
“We see too often this kind of operation making a lot of money, preying on those people that are addicted to an opioid,” said Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré.
Eyewitness News will continue to update this story throughout the day on WPRI.com and on Eyewitness News on WPRI 12.
Eyewitness News Reporters Steph Machado and Alexandra Leslie contributed to this report.
