REVERE, Mass. — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Monday ordered the inspection of all state-run emergency family shelters after a suspected undocumented immigrant was recently caught with a rifle and a huge drug stash.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, originally from the Dominican Republic, is being held without bail after being deemed dangerous by a Chelsea District Court judge.
Authorities said Sanchez was busted with an AR-15 rifle, large-capacity magazines, ammunition, and fentanyl and cocaine with an estimated street value of at least $750,000 at the Quality Inn on Morris Street off Route 1 in Revere.
“It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity,” Healey said in a statement. “I’ve ordered an inspection of all shelter units, beginning with the Revere site, and a full review of our intake processes to determine any additional steps that we can take to prevent criminal activity in shelters.”
Healey also called on the federal government to take steps to stop criminals from entering local communities.
“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,” Healey said. “The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction.”
MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying that the incident “amounts to a state-funded crime.”
“Republicans have called for residency requirements for emergency housing time and time again. This must serve as the final wake-up call to the Democratic supermajority and the Healey-Driscoll Administration to reform the state-funded Emergency Assistance program,” Carnevale said in a statement.
The Quality Inn in Revere is among 128 hotels and motels that have been used as emergency shelters across the state of Massachusetts since September 2022.
The state has vowed to phase out the use of hotels and motels for emergency shelter over the next 18 months.
Andujar is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on 11 felony charges in February.
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