Dartmouth man arrested on drug, ghost gun charges

Mar 12, 2023

DARTMOUTH — Derrick Paine, 41, of 1 Fenton St., Dartmouth, was arrested Sunday, March 12 and charged with two counts of felony possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, trafficking of Fentanyl, possession of a Class C drug, possession of a Class D drug, and possession of a Class E drug, according to Dartmouth Police. 

At about 6 a.m., Dartmouth Police Department Investigative Services Division, with the assistance of the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council S.W.A.T. team, executed a search warrant at 1 Fenton St.  

During the course of the search, detectives located a 9mm semi-automatic “ghost gun,” which is an unserialized and untraceable firearm bought online, a .22 caliber revolver, miscellaneous ammunition, 1,050 bags of suspected Fentanyl (with a total weight of 21 grams), 47 grams of suspected Psilocybin (commonly referred to as “mushrooms”), 25 ounces of suspected marijuana, 20 vials of suspected steroids, and $5,870 in U.S. currency, Dartmouth Police reported. 

The investigating detectives from the Dartmouth Police Department were Derek Sousa and Matthew Correia.

Paine was also arrested last year after an extended standoff with police at his home, Dartmouth police reported.

He reportedly barricaded himself in his house on May 22 with a firearm following an altercation in which he brandished the weapon.

After “extended negotiations,” Paine eventually exited the residence without incident and was subsequently arrested.

Dartmouth Police Chief Brian P. Levesque praised the efforts of police detectives in the March 11 incident.

“As a result of their hard work and dedication, my detectives were not only able to remove this dangerous individual from the community but also plausibly save the lives of countless others by removing these deadly drugs and illegally possessed guns from the streets.”