Federal investigators arrested 18 individuals last month as part of a sweeping operation that targeted the illegal trafficking of firearms across Massachusetts, a case they traced back to one of the most violent and notorious gangs in Latin America.
As the investigators learned, their far-reaching probe also led them to two suspects with ties right here on Martha’s Vineyard.
Over the course of the investigation, which began in 2024, law enforcement recovered 110 firearms commonly referred to as “ghost guns,” which are assembled from varying parts by scraping off serial numbers, using 3D-printed parts, and mixing different components from different weapons, making them nearly impossible to trace. The 18 individuals, all Brazilian nationals, and some undocumented, were arrested in March.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in March, some of the illegal weapons recovered by investigators are allegedly tied to the Primeiro Comando da Capital — a transnational criminal organization started in the prison system of São Paulo in Brazil, and known for committing violent offenses like murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and transnational drug trafficking. Two other, smaller street gangs, identified as the Tropa de Sete and Trem Bala, were also linked to the investigation.
Not announced at the time, but uncovered by The Martha’s Vineyard Times based on interviews with local police as well as court reports, one of the 18 Brazilian nationals arrested in March had ties to the Vineyard, and as early as 2023 lived in West Tisbury, where police say he allegedly helped to transport drugs and weapons to the Island.
Joao Victor Da Silva Soares, a 21-year-old listed as living in Everett, but from Brazil, and holder of a green card, according to federal officials, is currently imprisoned in a cell at the Worcester House of Corrections.
He is facing charges of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and his case is ongoing at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston.
While Soares was arrested this past March along with the other 18 suspects, he’s been in the spotlight for local police, starting a little over a year ago.
The Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force — made up of police from Island police departments — and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of Cape Cod were informed of Soares’ whereabouts and alleged engagement in crime involving cocaine and weapons on the Island for the first time at the end of 2023, according to police reports.
From January to March 2024, investigators documented Soares making at least 10 trips from Boston to Martha’s Vineyard. Police allege that distributors would meet in Soares’ parked car in Woods Hole.
Soares also allegedly worked with Gustavo Augusto Mroczkoski, 27, another Brazilian national whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained in Oak Bluffs in September last year on drug and firearm possession charges.
Police reports detailed how Mroczkoski coordinated with Soares, often meeting him in Woods Hole to receive what police suspected was contraband. According to police, Mroczkoski would arrive empty-handed, enter Soares’ vehicle for several minutes, and then leave carrying a steel water bottle, which investigators believe concealed drugs or firearm components.
Another figure who traveled to the Island with Soares was Josenito Ferreira Jr., who was previously arrested for possession of a ghost gun by North Andover Police. He and Soares allegedly conducted a transaction in the parking lot of Wolf Den’s Pizzeria in Vineyard Haven in the beginning of March of 2024.
Local police, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of Cape Cod Resident Office, eventually narrowed in on Soares. On cold and rainy March 26 last year, Soares — wearing Crocs, black shorts, and a black hooded sweatshirt — was arrested by Falmouth Police at the Woods Hole Steamship Authority terminal as he walked toward the ferry line. Police say they uncovered 50 oxycodone pills from Soares’ 2020 Range Rover, parked across the street from Pie in the Sky in Woods Hole.
Soares was subsequently charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute. He was released on personal recognizance after an arraignment in Falmouth District Court, where the case is still ongoing.
On March 26 in 2024, the same day Soares was arrested, Island authorities also executed a search warrant at Mroczkoski’s residence in Oak Bluffs, owned by his parents. Inside, officers discovered a cache of military-grade munitions, including high-capacity magazines, a switch to turn a Glock into an automatic weapon, an identification card belonging to Ferreira Jr., and a gun that looked real but was discovered to be a BB gun.
Officers applied for search warrants of Soares’ and Mroczkoski’s phones as well — finding several photos of guns in both. They also discovered in Soares’ phone photos of guns being made.
Soares was released on personal recognizance at the time of his arrest, but it was only a few months later that federal law enforcement began documenting his part in the wider operation of selling of firearms tied to the Brazilian gang affiliates.
The multi-agency investigation, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), started in 2024, targeted Soares for his role in the illegal firearms trafficking network, and led to his arrest with 17 other Brazilian nationals. Using cooperating witnesses, authorities conducted controlled purchases, acquiring commercially made firearms, privately made firearms, and commercially manufactured ammunition from Soares, who did not have a license to sell.
According to court documents, in August 2024, a cooperating witness, under ATF surveillance, purchased two Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifles from Soares and his associate, João Victor Dos Santos, for $6,000 in the parking lot of a Stop & Shop in Malden.
Weeks later, Soares was arrested again during an operation in Milford, after what police described as a “cooperating witness” bought five firearms, including a Palmetto State Armory PSAK 7.62x39mm rifle with an obliterated serial number. The ATF confirmed Soares did not have a federal firearms license.
Since his arrest, Soares has been held at the Worcester House of Corrections as his charges proceed through the Moakley Courthouse in Boston.
Federal prosecutors, in a press release, say that the actions of law enforcement helped make Massachusetts residents safer.
“As alleged, these defendants — most of whom have no legal status in the United States — played a role in bringing deadly weapons into Massachusetts, some as traffickers and others as unlawful possessors. This kind of lawlessness fuels violent crime and empowers transnational criminal organizations that profit from chaos and fear. It puts American lives at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley in a statement. “This case is a testament to the strength of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships in keeping our communities safe and upholding the rule of law.”
Police Chief Jonathan Searle in Oak Bluffs said that he is proud of the work his officers have done in partnership with federal and other local police departments.
“I hope that the public trusts local law enforcement when taking local law enforcement action,” said Searle. The Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force’s investigation and surveilling of Soares played a part in the overall success of the greater federal investigation, according to Martha’s task force investigators. “I’m proud of the work the Island police did in helping with the investigative work that led to the arrest of these individuals,” said Searle.
Searle said the arrests serve as an example that so far, locals picked up by federal ICE agents have committed crimes.
“If ICE comes down here, they are probably coming for people who are not contributing to our community in a positive way,” Searle said, adding that the weapons put together and sold were dangerous. “This type of ammunition goes through body armor, is long-distance, and these are not innocent people who are looking to start a new life.”
Sam Houghton contributed to this report.
Well done, law enforcement.
How can anyone in their right mind trust a single word from Trump’s justice department, when their Dear Leader is a convicted felon and rapist, who lies every single day?
Another win for the good guys. Our immediate area has already seen the benefits of the current administration. It’s time to remove these violent and abusive people from our streets.
Finally, a little reality seeps into the MV Times and Chief Searle. That we would want people like that in our communities is outrageous. Moreoever, the clarity that if you’ve come to the country illegally, that is a deportable offense—it’s on the books, it’s not triggering opinion, it’s just a case of “don’t shoot the messenger” unless receive legal relief via an asylum application, etc. Why the facts are hard to embrace for some is part of why the POTUS many don’t want (or like me, would not prefer) is in the Oval Office—immigration reality.
Who “wants people like that” ?
Who wants any criminal in our midst ? Black, white, brown, legal, illegal…
Your comment smells badly.
The Island needs to wake up. We all have eyes and ears. All you have to do if you see or hear anything suspicious is report it to the police. You don’t have to get involved, just report it. It could save someone in your own family’s life.
I’ll be at 5 Corners protesting this next week. Business hours only. Who wants to join me? NO ONE IS ILLEGAL!
Great job local MV police! Thank you! We teach our kids if you see something, say something. Adults should hopefully do the same.
Janet and Mike:
You say current administration? Apparently you do not know that President Obama deported more people, about 400,000, than any other American president other than Eisenhower. There simply was not a lot of fanfare. On the other hand George W. Bush was not in favor of significant deportations due to his realization that the country needs workers. The majority of the present workers without the proper documentation do have tax payer identification numbers: so at least one branch of the federal government accepts their presence. ICE has problems with the issue but the IRS doesn’t
People will believe what they want to believe and ignore the rest. This goes for both sides. All I know is that our communities are safer when dangerous criminals are off the street.
“”Make Massachusetts BLUE”” Forthwith!!!!!
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