Massachusetts troopers found seven handguns, an AR-style rifle, high-capacity magazines and a wide array of drugs in a 24-year-old Brookline man's car over the weekend, according to state police.
Troopers responded to the weigh station on Interstate 95 in Rowley just before 11 p.m. Saturday night, after getting reports of an SUV there that was driving erratically. State police identified the driver as Stewart Silvestri.
While a trooper spoke with Silvestri, state police say he spotted a handgun with a 50-round drum magazine in plain sight inside his car. The trooper saw another handgun under the driver's seat, a news release from MSP said.
After Silvestri was removed from the SUV, and more troopers responded to help, a more thorough search was conducted. In total, police turned up seven polymer handguns, an AR-style short-barreled rifle, along with 34 magazines, 23 of which were high capacity, police said.
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Twenty-three of the magazines were loaded with varying amounts of rounds, authorities said, adding they also uncovered at least 22 gun components and hundreds of rounds of ammo.
Troopers said Silvestri was driving under the influence of drugs, too, and found 42 grams of cocaine, 53 suboxone strips, 167 Xanax pills, around 15 grams of liquid GHB, several prescription medications and multiple other types of drugs in his backpack, according to the news release.
Silvestri does not have a gun license in Massachusetts, troopers said, who believe he may have gotten the guns in New Hampshire.
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Silvestri is facing eight counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, 25 counts of possession of a large capacity weapon or feeding device, multiple counts of possession of a large-capacity firearm in commission of a felony and improper storage of a large capacity firearm, along with single counts of possession of a silencer and possession of a firearm while under the influence.
He also faces a count of operating under the influence of drugs and possession of Class A, B, and E narcotics. He is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday. Family members who were in court declined to comment about the charges.
