Attorney general: Task force's work brings gun seizures, indictment of West Warwick couple
WEST WARWICK – A special police task force seized an arsenal of guns and ammunition during raids this summer in West Warwick, according to Attorney General Peter Neronha.
The Urban Violent Crime Task Force's haul of more than three dozen firearms, including three fully automatic machine guns, led to the recent indictment of a West Warwick couple, Neronha said Tuesday morning.
The task force, he said, also seized five ghost guns, 23 kits for building ghost guns, a pistol with an obliterated serial number, 16 silencers and suppressors and 223 assorted magazines, including high-capacity drum-style magazines.
The seizures included special triggers for the conversion of semi-automatic guns to automatic weapons, he said. U.S. civilians are not allowed to possess automatic weapons.
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Members of the task force and a regional tactical team made the seizures at locations on Harris Avenue and Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick on July 20.
This followed investigative work targeting illegal-firearms trafficking and ghost-gun manufacturing in Providence and Central Falls, Neronha said.
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West Warwick residents face felony charges
Two West Warwick residents, a 41-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, face numerous felony charges.
They are accused of purchasing firearms and parts from local and online firearm retailers. Such straw purchases are made on behalf of other people who want to avoid federal and state criminal background checks, said Neronha.
The investigation was initiated by Providence police investigators from the department's Organized Crime Bureau who are assigned to the attorney general's violent crime task force.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as Coventry and West Warwick police assisted in the probe.
The investigative work stemmed from an earlier probe in Central Falls and Providence that yielded the arrests of three people and seizures of guns, high-capacity magazines and narcotics.
“Our Urban Violent Crime Initiative continues to deliver results for Rhode Islanders and their safety," said Neronha. "As alleged in the indictment, this case has it all."
"The weapons recovered here were headed to only one place, our neighborhoods, in the hands of criminals fully prepared to commit acts of violence,” Neronha added.
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré promised that local police will use everything they have "to keep our streets safe."
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Urban Violent Crime Task Force makes seizures in West Warwick
