Western Mass Raid Seizes Drugs, Cash and Guns

Every western Mass drug bust helps reduce the trafficking of smack and pills into the Berkshires.  A bust by a special Mass State Police Task Force led to an arrest in Springfield yesterday and the confiscation of drugs, cash and guns.   A raid team made up of the CINRET Task Force, feds and local law enforcement executed a search warrant at 9:30 Thursday morning on Acushnet Ave according to the release on the Mass State Police Facebook page.

Bagged and tagged was the target of the investigation, 41-year-old Mario Monge.  In the raid police seized 300 Oxycodone pills, 169 grams of what they believe is cocaine, $183,928 in cash and two semi-automatic handguns.

Monge is charged with 8 counts of very bad behavior;

1. Unlawful possession of a firearm by a person with at least three prior convictions for violent crimes or drug crimes (two counts);
2. Possession of a large capacity feeding device;
3. Possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, subsequent offense (two counts);
4. Possession of ammunition without a Firearm Identification Card (two counts);
5. Improper storage of a firearm (two counts);
6. Trafficking cocaine;
7. Trafficking Oxycodone; and
8. Possession of heroin with intent to distribute.

The State Police suspected Monge of housing a significant cocaine distribution operation.  The investigation into Monge was led by the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction and Enforcement Team (CINRET).  A host of other law enforcement agencies continue to help put bad people behind bars and reduce the number of drugs on Western Mass streets.  Helping in the latest bust included State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, federal Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force, the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force and Springfield Police.