ROCKLAND, Maine — A 32-year-old Rockland man has been charged and another person is being sought in connection with a nearly yearlong investigation into the trading of guns from the midcoast for drugs in Massachusetts.
Charles Dodge was charged Friday with conspiracy to traffic in guns and conspiracy to violate drug laws, according to Maine Drug Enforcement Agency supervisor James Pease. Dodge is being held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison on unrelated charges.
A second person is being sought and will be arrested when they are found, Pease said.
The investigation began when officers raided a room at the Hampton Inn in Thomaston last April which led to the arrest of two New Bedford, Mass., men on drug trafficking charges.
Upon further investigation, the New Bedford (Mass.) Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly began seizing from gang members in New Bedford guns that had come from Knox County.
Ten to 15 handguns and one submachine gun from midcoast Maine were recovered from gangs in New Bedford, Pease said. He said he does not believe any of the weapons were used in a violent crime.
Many of the guns had been stolen in burglaries in Knox County and the Waldoboro area, Pease said. Some of the guns were owned by the suspects, who were prohibited from having them because of prior felony convictions.
The two men arrested at the Thomaston hotel — Manny Sylvia, 28, and Angel Acevedo, 20, both of New Bedford — were sentenced last fall to 10 years in prison with all but four years suspended for trafficking in drugs.
It’s Pease of the MDEA saying submachine gun. The reporter should insist that Pease provide details to support the use of that terminology. At least tell us the make and model. I get sick of seeing “machine gun”, “submachine gun” and “assault rifle” used in news stories without some qualifying details.
probably a tech9 or mac 11 variant.
I’d be genuinely surprised if they actually had a submachine gun, seeming as they’re very, very difficult to obtain even with the correct paperwork.
Those are machine pistols if they’re full auto. I recall that earlier semi auto versions were easily converted to full auto. I think some items are getting harder to find even if you plan to steal them from the government.
no, they are not machine pistols.
they are semi-auto pistols.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEC-9
the mac11, while usually a machine pistol, can be purchased as a semi auto variant like i mentioned.
for example:
http://www.cabelas.com/billings-gun-library-cobray-m-11-9mm-2.shtml
that is a cobray M11 9mm semi auto mac-11 variant.
not a machine pistol.
What I meant is that those guns would be machine pistols (not submachine guns) IF they were full auto. I wouldn’t be surprised if it really was something like the cobray but they told the press “submachine gun”.
It’s just like when they say that a suspect used an “assualt rifle” when describing any weapon with a pistol grip, extended magazine, or scope.
Some people think a .22 with camo colored stock is an assault rifle.
The very early versions of the semi auto only mac 10 still fired from an open bolt until 1982 which did make them easier to convert with the proper parts. Those are seen as collectors items now and if you can find one for sale it will probably cost 1500 to 2k.
As the owner of a few machine guns ( yes firearms that can go FULL AUTO ) I never understand why people think it is so hard to get one. Expensive hell yes but very easy. A few forms a couple fingerprint cards and a picture and your local LE has to sign off ( unless you have a trust as I do then no fingerprint cards ans no pictures and no CLEO sign off ) . Machine guns, suppressors, short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns and AOW,s ( any other weapon pen guns cane guns and such) are all legal in Maine with a tax stamp 200 for all except a aow those are 5 unless you make it then they are 200.
Somebody told me that years ago you could buy the tax stamp while the gun was still semi auto and then convert it. Is that true?
No any machine gun has to have been registered prior to 1986, no new ones are allowed.
Not sure it was anywhere close to 1986. The guy who told me that was talking about earlier times in Arizona.
Used to be that you could convert anything and add it to the registry but a gun grabber snuck a provision into the 85 bill that prevented new machine guns. Basically it artificially inflated the prices of existing ones making an 800 dollar gun into a 15k one and destroyed the opportunity for law abiding citizens to get a chance to try new technologies and designes like the SCAR or TDI KRISS the way they were intended.
Now tell everyone how much money it costs to buy a registered machine gun. Even a mac 10 runs around 3500 bucks nowadays. Getting into m16s or mp5s with fetch upwards 0f 15 grand. Crimes like this are typically financially motivated, nobody trades guns for drugs to have fun. If one has that kind of coin to drop on a gun then they probably buy their drugs with Benjamin Franklins anyway.
Easy for you, not so much for someone who has to steal for a living.
I bet a legal 1927 Thompson in good condition would be expensive.
Yeah 15-20k
What do you want to bet its one of those gsg5 .22s that look like an mp5
lol there are people who can get their hands on anything they want, anytime…..
Too bad you’re not sick of seeing illegal gun peddlers keeping the pool of criminal weaponry filled.
I am sick of that too. It’s just that sensationalism and misrepresentation of the truth doesn’t help solve the problem. I strongly believe that ANY theft of a firearm should be punished harshly. I don’t care if it’s a only a badly rusted single shot .22 rifle. I don’t care how it gets stolen. It should mean they automatically get an added charge to that burglary, robbery, shoplifting or whatever charge for stealing a firearm. There should be mandatory minimum sentences to go along with that.
Oh.
What do yo think should be done with illegal gun peddlers, even if he’s not selling stolen guns?
They should be severely punished for the peddling. If they are guilty of receiving stolen property, charge them with that too.
Lets see a picture of these weapons, I’m guessing its a bunch of junk pistols in .22 and some piece of crap semi auto in 9mm. Either way the way law enforcement agencies make them sound is ridiculous, making the scared and uninformed masses think that they were military weapons like they see in the movies. I’ll add that by current law none of them were allowed to posses a firearm.
your comments above are meaningless. I don’t care about caliber or nomenclature; These bastards were stealing firearms to commit crimes. anyone who gets in the way , will get a real closeup of that gun! Don’t you get it,,,,,,,,,they want to kill you!
Well thats great cause I wanna kill them too, and when my training is compared to them I can already tell you who’s gonna be alive in the end.
submachine gun = probably a modified SKS with the editors of the BDN
My vote is a Ruger 10/22 with an aftermarket stock. Runner-up is that they were all Airsoft products.
I think it interesting that the talk is swapping “Knowledge” of guns vs. the vileness of the crime commited. ie gun running for Drugs. In any case, I hope the Dbags get what’s coming.
Agreed. It’s such silly minutiae that has nothing to do with the crime(s). I’m sure that nobody would schlep drugs all that way just to trade them for “junk pistols”.
It does when a part of your life involves owning firearms and that right is hurt by people misrepresenting different types in an effort to get them taken away.
A reporter, telling a mundane story, not giving silly details, is somehow ruining the 2nd amendment and the right to protect yourself?
Get a grip!
Lets say I legally own a submachinegun, I’ve invested thousands of dollars and gone through the requirements to own it. Then some story comes on the paper and wrongfully states that a guy was trading a submachinegun for drugs. Now when an uninformed reader is listening to some anti gun hack about how drug dealers have submachineguns they will only have this story to go by and will support the creation of laws that are unnecessary. Which only hurts my rights in the end.
The best way to protect rights is education about the subjects at hand, how many people voted for obama because they thought he was going to give them free healthcare? How many people are for the war on pot because of the medias portrayal of it? I feel that the media has a responsibility to tell the details truthfully and dependably because people today believe whatever they hear.
Maine celebrates “DIVERSITY”………..
Your just a racist right? White crime is better than non-white crime or did the poor white Mainers get lured into trading guns for drugs by the evil non-whites? Even if the state was all white there would still be crime – have you looked at the crime-beat section?
Oh, c’mon! There are many ways to be ‘diverse’ besides race! Where’d you get ‘racist’ from?
Off The Wall is right…
I’m glad to see the pro-gun people seeking to protect his 2nd amendment rights to sell guns for drugs.
I’m very happy to know that the 2nd amendment gives me the ability to defend myself and my family from these scumbags.
Now if we could just find a deterrent to the liberal mindset………………
You mean until your gun gets stolen like those mentioned in the article?Or used in a tragedy that doesn’t involve a criminal?
the part about “being used in a tragedy that doesnt involve a criminal” that very rarely happens as compared to the amount of times a year people defend themselves, their home, or someone else with a gun. as for getting them stolen. yeah that happens but hardly a reason to ban all guns, as they would still be around for criminals. or at the very least they would have a lot of defenseless targets.
Why do some gun-nuts keep acting as if the only choice is between keeping criminals from getting guns, and banning all guns?
Only fools fall for that idiocy.
because any form of gun control only hurts law abiding citizens. you make it harder for someone to get a gun to protect themselves, but it makes no difference at all to a criminal. why do the states with the least gun control laws have the least gun violence and the states/cities with the most gun control laws have the most gun violence?
Thanks for that helping of NRA pap.
Turn your “wisdom” around: cities with the most violence resort to gun control.
and who does it end up hurting? surely not criminals.
I do not want all guns banned.I worked for an outdoors magazine and know plenty of responsible owners.Unfortunately I also know people who shouldn’t have a coffee stirrer who have guns legally.They have connections or nobody looks at the situation until after the fact.
They may steal one, but they can’t find them all, and if I’m there at the time, they won’t be bothering anybody else.
Fair enough.I just hope things work out as you say.When you add alcohol and anger to a gun,too often bad things happen.
You assume I will be intoxicated?
Not at all.I should’ve clarified that last statement as a general rule.
Nobody here is advocating that and I challenge you to find one comment on here that says that.
This guy should be made an example of, harsh and fast! I do not understand why violent gangs are allowed to exist! If the police and legal system won’t do anything to eliminate these gangs from running ramped, reeking havoc and defacing private property with there stupid logos, communities should band together and create or elect a gang task force to deal with them! As far as I am concerned they do not care or live by the laws and should have no laws in place to protect them! The system that was created to protect the honest person has been altered to protect the criminals rights and is not working! It’s the decent people who need laws and police to protect them not the criminals! I will not allow my property to be defaced or give up the right to walk the streets without fear!!!!
It’s like playing ‘Whack a Mole’ for police.
And yet there are still those who have their heads in the sand and insist ME doesn’t have a gang problem.I have a friend who lives in a gang ridden city in MA.The police chief there said that things aren’t that bad because”murders and attempted murders have only INCREASED by one so far this year(Jan/Feb.)That’s progress???
so now this guy rats on everyone involved and then some… and gets a suspended five year sentence and a fine and becomes smarter so he can do it some more and not get caught for a while.. it does not seem the prison system helps these people stop doing illegal things mostly cause the sentence giving for crimes like this are a joke.
I say ship he butt to Mass. and let him do his time down there with the rest of the gangsters. Hopfully he won’t get put in with the wrong gang. LOL
Any gang is the wrong gang, even if you’re a member.
a good example is the “wild” west which wasn’t so wild as far as gun crime per capita compared to todays gun controlled cities. the wildest town in the “wild” west was tombstone Arizona, which surprise! no guns allowed.