What started as a quick foot chase through the Cathedral Housing developments Friday evening ended with Boston officers pulling a loaded 9mm "ghost" gun off the street and seizing a backpack full of drugs from a 17-year-old boy from Roxbury, according to police. Members of the Youth Violence Strike Force arrested the juvenile in the area of 2 East Brookline Street and later recovered what authorities report was roughly 199 fentanyl pills along with crack cocaine.
What officers say they found
Investigators with the Youth Violence Strike Force say they first spotted the teen clutching his waistband as he ran, a classic red flag for officers that someone might be armed. During the short pursuit, police say they saw a hooded sweatshirt and a firearm fall from his person. According to the Boston Police Department, the weapon was identified as a 9mm ghost gun with a purple slide, black receiver and purple magazine, loaded with one round in the chamber and fifteen rounds in a large-capacity magazine.
Drugs and other items recovered
Once the teen was in custody, officers searched his backpack and say they found a black fanny pack stuffed with narcotics, along with a knife that had white powdery residue on the blade, drug paraphernalia and one live 9mm round. Authorities report seizing 199 fentanyl pills weighing approximately 30 grams, a plastic bag containing about five grams of crack cocaine and an additional gram of loose crack, as reported by Newport Dispatch.
Charges and court timeline
The juvenile now faces a slate of firearms and drug charges, including carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a large-capacity feeding device, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and trafficking fentanyl. He is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court. Detectives plan to present the case to juvenile prosecutors, and Boston Police say additional investigative steps are already underway, according to the Boston Police Department.
Why this matters
For officials, the stop underscores a troubling combination they have been warning about, the rise of unregulated "ghost" firearms and the spread of pill-form fentanyl among teens and young adults. It also is not an isolated case. A similar juvenile arrest in Jamaica Plain in May turned up a loaded Glock and roughly 10 grams of fentanyl, showing that officers have encountered both weapons and fentanyl in recent weeks, as reported by Newport Dispatch.
