Fall River Man Charged With Selling Drugs and Guns via Telegram App

BOSTON (WBSM) — A Fall River man was arrested and charged with selling drugs and machine guns on the Telegram app.

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Benjamin Hunt, 26, was arrested on the morning of August 28 and charged by criminal complaint with three counts of distribution of controlled substances and one count of transferring machine guns.

Court documents alleged that Hunt advertised drugs, firearms and other contraband on the Telegram app. He would then allegedly use the U.S. mail to ship those items around the country in exchange for Bitcoin payments.

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It is alleged that he specifically sold counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl and other drugs, and the firearms he sold included “ghost” guns and “switches,” which convert firearms into fully automatic weapons.

Hunt allegedly sold 100 pills containing fentanyl in February 2024, and another 500 pills in May 2024, to an undercover law enforcement agent in exchange for Bitcoin, shipping the drugs in the mail.

In June 2024, he allegedly sold a Glock-type privately-made firearm with a serial number, two switches, 110 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, an extended magazine and 3D-printed brass knuckles to an undercover law enforcement officer.

Earlier this week, Hunt allegedly mailed another package containing 1,600 counterfeit pills believed to contain fentanyl to undercover law enforcement in exchange for Bitcoin.

Law enforcement also intercepted multiple packages allegedly being sent to or from Hunt, including one package sent by him that contained a smoke grenade and one package sent to an address associated with him that contained 13 switches.

Multiple search warrants were executed against Hunt, which led to the seizure of significant amounts and types of drugs and an arsenal of firearms.

“Among other things, a large quantity suspected fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, morphine codeine, and mushrooms; approximately 10 firearms; several machine gun conversion devices; several silencers; several extended magazines, including with a large capacity drum; significant amounts of ammunition; many privately made firearm parts and accessories; and 3D printers capable of producing the seized privately made firearms were seized during the search,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

He has been held pending a hearing scheduled for September 5.

If convicted, Hunt faces up to 20 years in prison on each count of distribution of controlled substances, as well as at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of transfer of machine guns provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.