Long Beach Dad, 34, Busted With 20+ Guns, Drugs, $100K Near School

A 34-year-old Long Beach man is facing 59 criminal counts after investigators say they found more than 20 firearms, a stockpile of narcotics and over $100,000 in cash inside the home he shared with his children. Charles Burns was arrested at his residence on Reverend JJ Evans Boulevard last Friday, capping an investigation that authorities say began months earlier after neighbors started complaining about drug dealing in the area.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Richard DePalma said the case traces back to community tips, and that getting the weapons and narcotics off the street felt especially urgent with local public schools set to reopen within days, according to the News12 Long Island report on the raid. Authorities allege Burns stored the drugs, firearms and cash inside the residence, which sits near a school, and the joint investigation drew in the Long Beach Police Department, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, and the FBI.

Investigators recovered heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and ecstasy alongside the firearms, and the search turned up more than $100,000 in cash. Burns faces charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a weapon, with the 59 counts spanning first-, second-, and third-degree criminal possession of a firearm under New York State law.

How the Investigation Started

According to the reporting, Long Beach police first contacted federal agents in March about a suspected narcotics distribution network, kicking off an inquiry that stretched over roughly five months before Burns's arrest. Authorities allege that guns and drugs were transported from Queens into Long Beach and other parts of Nassau County as part of that network. Investigators are now examining whether any of the seized firearms were trafficked from out of state and whether they were used in violent crimes elsewhere.

Burns, described as a longtime Long Beach resident, had previous encounters with law enforcement involving drugs and illegal firearms, according to authorities. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly did not mince words about the scale of the seizure, saying, “Nobody has this amount of guns in their home unless they are selling them or using them for illegal acts.”

What the Charges Could Mean

Under New York Penal Law § 265.04, possessing 10 or more illegal firearms constitutes Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony carrying a mandatory minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 25 years in prison, according to Greco Neyland, PC. If convicted on the most serious counts, Burns could face up to 25 years behind bars. Separately, New York Penal Law § 265.01-b makes possessing any unlicensed or unregistered firearm outside a home or business a Class E felony, per Saland Law, underscoring how strictly the state treats firearm licensing.

Part of a Larger Regional Pattern

The Long Beach case follows a separate bust just last month, when Nassau County law enforcement announced the takedown of another alleged trafficking network that recovered 47 illegal guns and more than a kilogram of narcotics smuggled into Queens and Nassau County, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. The DA's office runs a dedicated Firearms Suppression and Intelligence Unit that works with the FBI and ATF specifically to target weapon trafficking pipelines into suburban Nassau communities.

Law enforcement agencies across Nassau County seized roughly 149 crime guns in just the first six months of 2025 during collaborative sweeps by local police and federal task forces, per the Long Island Herald. Reverend JJ Evans Boulevard, where the raid took place, sits adjacent to the Long Beach LIRR station on a barrier island roughly 30 miles east of Manhattan, according to the Historical Marker Database, a reminder of how accessible the area is to trafficking routes running out of the city.

The human stakes behind these seizures are steep. Nassau County Health Department data shows drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for local residents aged 18 to 35, according to Uniondale Rehab / Addiction Treatment Nearby, a statistic that has fueled the county's aggressive push against narcotics distribution networks like the one investigators allege Burns was part of.

It remains unclear where all of the seized firearms originated or whether ballistics testing will link any of them to unsolved violent crimes in Nassau County or New York City. Burns's bail status and the timeline for further proceedings in Nassau County court have not been detailed in available reporting.