Dominican National at State Shelter in Revere Accused of Drug and Firearm Offenses

Staff Report

The arrest of a Dominican national accused of firearm and drug charges who was residing at a state-funded migrant shelter in Revere has had reverberations across the city and state.

On Friday, Dec. 27, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston helped the Revere Police Department identify Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, following an arrest at the Quality Inn in Revere. He is currently in state custody, and ERO Boston has lodged an immigration detainer against him.

“Mr. Andujar has been accused of serious crimes, and ERO Boston takes its public safety mission very seriously — which is why we’ve lodged an immigration detainer against him with Revere police,” said ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has charged him with possessing dangerous weapons and drug trafficking, and with the Revere Police Department’s cooperation, we intend to take him into ICE custody upon his release.”

Revere police arrested Andujar on Dec. 27 and contacted ERO Boston for assistance identifying him. During a Spanish-language interview, ERO officers determined that Andujar unlawfully entered the U.S. on an unknown date at an unknown location sometime within the past year.

Revere Police Detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division and Special Investigations Unit along with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, later applied for and obtained a search warrant for the premises. The search warrant was executed and recovered approximately 5 Kilograms/10lbs of the deadly narcotic Fentanyl with an estimated street value of over $1 million dollars. In addition, three large capacity rifle magazines, one of which was loaded with .556 ammunition, were recovered, according to the Revere Police Department.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against him immediately following his arrest.

The Chelsea District Court arraigned Andujar on Monday, Dec. 30 for possessing a firearm and a large capacity feeding device, possessing a firearm in a felony, being an alien in possession of a firearm, the unlicensed sale or possession of an assault weapon, and trafficking in 200 grams or more of heroin, morphine, opium or fentanyl.

“This individual endangered occupants of the hotel, on-site workers, public safety personnel and the community at large,” said Revere Police Chief David Callahan. “His arrest underscores our commitment to work tirelessly to protect our community from those dealing deadly Fentanyl and possessing illegal firearms.”

In a statement, Mayor Patrick Keefe said the individual was preying upon vulnerable people while threatening the safety and wellbeing of the entire community.

“The City of Revere and the Revere Police Department will continue to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth and work to protect every person that calls Revere home,” Keefe stated.

A representative from the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said there is “zero tolerance” for criminal activities in these shelters and that the office took immediate action to terminate this individual from the EA system, and confirmed with federal immigration officials that they have lodged a detainer.

On Monday evening, Governor Maura Healey ordered an inspection of all state-run emergency shelters.

“It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity. Our administration has been in touch with both local law enforcement and federal immigration officials regarding this case,” Healey said in a statement. “This further underscores our broken federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to act on a border security bill to prevent criminals from entering our communities. The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction.”

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