K9 Marta turned a routine warrant into a major bust when she led Fall River detectives to a hidden cache of narcotics and a loaded handgun beneath a vacant Howland Street home, according to police. The search at 79 Howland Street ended with officers seizing more than a kilogram of suspected cocaine and later making an arrest in New Bedford on new state drug and firearm allegations, authorities said.
Warrant, K9 And The Haul
According to the Fall River Police Department, detectives obtained and executed a search warrant at 79 Howland Street on July 24. Investigators said FRPD K9 Marta was sent into a dirt crawl space beneath the rear of the residence, where she alerted officers to something hidden. A closer search turned up what police described as "over one kilogram of suspected cocaine" along with a loaded 9mm pistol.
The department noted in its post that the property itself was vacant, uninhabitable and had no electricity or running water, which made the stash beneath it stand out even more.
Address’s Previous Investigations
This was not the first time 79 Howland Street showed up in local case files. Fall River detectives executed a search warrant at the same address in 2018 and recovered trafficking quantities of cocaine and an illegally possessed firearm, according to prior reporting. Fall River Reporter noted that Justin Russell later pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and firearm-related charges and received a seven-year state prison sentence.
Who Joined The Operation
The department wrote that this latest probe was not a solo effort by city officers but a joint operation involving federal, state and local partners, including the FBI Metro Boston Gang Task Force and the Massachusetts Department of Correction. Investigators arrested Justin Russell in New Bedford on unrelated charges before presenting the new drug and firearm allegations to prosecutors, according to the Fall River Police Department.
The department also included a reminder in its public statement that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Legal Exposure
If prosecutors pursue trafficking charges at the 200 gram level based on the amount of suspected cocaine seized, Massachusetts law calls for a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 12 years under M.G.L. c.94C §32E. Potential firearm penalties for unlicensed possession and for repeat firearm offenses are detailed in M.G.L. c.269 §10, where subsequent convictions can sharply increase the time a defendant faces if charges are sustained.
K9s And Local Enforcement
Fall River’s Community Action and Suppression Team has frequently teamed up with federal task forces on search warrants like this one, and K9 units have become go-to partners when it comes to finding hidden narcotics and weapons. Fall River Reporter has documented several recent joint actions where that kind of task-force support helped officers seize firearms and trafficking-level quantities of drugs.
