What started as a quiet, months long drug probe in the Forest Hills area ended with a traffic stop, a safe behind a bed, and a gun on Wednesday, when Boston police arrested two Roslindale residents they say were running a fentanyl and crack operation out of a Washington Street home. Officers report recovering trafficking level quantities of drugs, a handgun and ammunition, and allege the pair moved narcotics on foot and by electric scooter before they were pulled over. Both suspects now face trafficking and weapons charges.
How police say the case unfolded
According to Newport Dispatch, officers with the E-13 (Jamaica Plain) Drug Control Unit began getting tips in December that two people were selling crack cocaine and fentanyl in Forest Hills. Investigators ultimately identified 48-year-old Brandon Weltman and 40-year-old Ashley Benson and connected the activity to a Washington Street residence that they say served as the base of operations. Officers obtained search warrants through West Roxbury District Court on March 6, secured an arrest warrant for Weltman on March 10, then moved in with surveillance and arrests on Wednesday.
Drug Control Unit tactics in the city
Boston’s district Drug Control Units often rely on long surveillance stretches and court authorized warrants to go after street level dealing, the department’s public posts show. Similar DCU operations in recent months have turned up firearms, scales and trafficking quantities of narcotics as officers coordinate with neighboring districts, according to the Boston Police Department.
What officers say they recovered
Newport Dispatch reports that when officers stopped Benson as she left the Washington Street residence in an Uber, they found a Samsung phone, a set of house keys, and both a pre packaged unit and a loose rock of crack cocaine in her backpack. Using the keys taken from Benson, officers say they went into the home and located a locked black safe tucked behind the bedroom bed. Inside, they report finding a Hi-Point Model C9 handgun, a magazine loaded with seven .380 ACP cartridges and one 9mm Luger cartridge, along with multiple bags of fentanyl and crack cocaine.
Investigators also seized a digital camouflage scale, multiple cell phones and two motorized scooters. They say they linked phone numbers to the alleged operation by dialing numbers that rang on devices taken from both suspects. According to the report, each person was charged with trafficking roughly 54 grams of fentanyl and 36 grams of crack cocaine, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Legal stakes and next steps
The amounts described would meet Massachusetts statutory trafficking thresholds. The state’s trafficking statute treats fentanyl as a Class A substance and sets a lower trafficking threshold for fentanyl with mandatory minimum penalties at certain weights, and it establishes distinct thresholds for cocaine and other Class B drugs, legal summaries and the state code show. See Massachusetts General Laws on trafficking and related legal guides for how thresholds translate into potential penalties. The two suspects are expected to be arraigned in West Roxbury District Court, where prosecutors will set out formal charges and timelines…