Operation Summer Heat: RI FBI Task Force makes 17 arrests

The Boston Division of the FBI announced it made 404 arrests over the past three months as part of Operation Summer Heat, a nationwide crackdown aimed at reducing violent crime.

According to the bureau, the Boston field office, which covers Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire, ranked third in total arrests among all FBI divisions participating in the national initiative.

“Operation Summer Heat highlights the relentless work our agents, task force officers, and analysts do every day to find and bring violent offenders to justice,” said Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “This record-setting effort removed gang members, drug traffickers, child predators, and bank robbers from our communities. None of this would have been possible without our state and local law enforcement partners. Summer may be over, but our commitment to keeping communities safe is not.”

The operation, which ran from June 24 through September 20, involved every FBI field office across the country. Teams focused on violent crime networks, executed federal arrest warrants, rescued child victims, and targeted gangs and fugitives.

Nationwide, Operation Summer Heat resulted in 8,629 arrests, including more than 6,500 tied to the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang program. Agents also identified or located 1,053 child victims and seized more than 2,200 firearms, 44,000 kilograms of cocaine, and 421 kilograms of fentanyl, enough to kill an estimated 50 million people.

In New England, FBI Boston’s efforts led to 404 arrests, 129 drug seizures, the recovery of 38 weapons, and the identification or location of 27 missing or endangered children.

Regional Highlights

• Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Safe Streets Task Force and partner agencies arrested 17 individuals, including gang members and drug traffickers. Seven suspects were charged with drug and firearm offenses, and investigators recovered significant quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and seven firearms, including an AR-15 and multiple handguns.
• Western Massachusetts: Working with the DEA’s New England Field Office, the Massachusetts State Police, and local departments in Holyoke and Chicopee, the Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force made 52 arrests targeting neighborhood gangs and open-air drug markets in areas plagued by shootings. Seized drugs included heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine.
• Southern Maine: The Southern Maine Gang Task Force carried out 37 search operations, resulting in 35 arrests and the seizure of multiple firearms and narcotics, including 4.5 kilograms of cocaine, 713 grams of fentanyl, 478 grams of methamphetamine, and 60 grams of crack cocaine.
• Massachusetts Cocaine Bust: A joint investigation involving the FBI, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Massachusetts State Police, with help from police in Revere, Boston, and Worcester, led to the arrests of two men and the seizure of roughly 73 kilograms of cocaine valued at more than $1 million.
• New Hampshire: The FBI’s Major Offender Task Force secured indictments for 12 people accused of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, carfentanil, and cocaine. Five others were arrested for allegedly plotting to rob a Londonderry business.