The owner of a Brockton streetwear store where investigators found guns tucked inside a vending machine and a secret counter drawer has pleaded guilty to federal drug and firearms charges. Felipe Jonet-Branco, 31, admitted to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and 10 counts of possessing a firearm as a felon, stemming from a February 4 search of his shop, Banks & Brancos, at 828 Crescent Street in Brockton.
According to MassLive, police recovered 10 firearms from the store during the search, including eight guns concealed in a hidden drawer built into the front counter, one gun found in the back storage room, and another stashed inside a vending machine. That hidden drawer also held large-capacity magazines and empty bottles of promethazine with codeine, per the outlet’s report.
Investigators also seized more than $40,000 in cash, over 35 pounds of marijuana, and 200 grams of psilocin mushrooms from the location, MassLive reported. Among the 10 firearms taken from the storefront were a large-caliber rifle and a Glock handgun fitted with a machine gun conversion device, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Jonet-Branco was legally barred from possessing any firearm because of a prior felony battery conviction in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the outlet’s report notes.
A Storefront Doubling as a Gang Stash House
The raid on Banks & Brancos was not an isolated bust. It formed part of a search of multiple stash locations tied to a Brockton-based Harvard Street Gang investigation, the same report states. Federal and state authorities have been building a case against the gang since 2019, a probe that has led to charges against more than 20 leaders, members, and associates, according to the federal prosecutors’ office…