TAUNTON — On Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, Taunton Police Detective Kraig Pimental said he was assigned to the department’s Street Crimes Unit and assisted in executing a search warrant at 18 Adams Street, Apt. 3, alongside other detectives, officers and a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force officer.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Kraig Pimental and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“In late January, my investigation into the drug distribution of cocaine and fentanyl by Henry Samuels of 18 Adams St., Apt. 3, Taunton, concluded,” Det. Pimental said. “This investigation resulted in two search warrants being issued.”
According to police, Henry S. Samuels, 37, is a resident of 18 Adams Street, Apt. 3, Taunton, MA.
Detective Pimental said the first search warrant was for Samuels’ Adams Street apartment and the second one was for Samuels’ rental vehicle, a 2025 Mazda CX-50 with Massachusetts plates.
During the early morning hours of Jan. 31, 2026, Detective Pimental said detectives with the Taunton Police Street Crimes Unit convened for a briefing on the execution of the two warrants.
“All present were briefed on the target, Henry Samuels, and the locations of both warrants,” Det. Pimental said. “The plan for execution of the warrant was to wait for Samuels to leave his residence and to take him into custody in his driveway. Once detained, other detectives would make entry into the apartment.”
Detective Pimental said that during the briefing, the officers were told Samuels had two open cases out of Norfolk Superior Court, both dated March 28, 2025, one for trafficking cocaine over 200 grams and the other for trafficking heroin.
“Upon completion of the briefing Detectives took position in the area of 18 Adams Street,” Det. Pimental said, adding that the target vehicle, Samuels’ rental vehicle was parked in the driveway.
Detective Pimental said Detective Joseph Ryan was assigned to monitor the apartment’s entry and exit to notify the other detectives when Samuels was leaving.
Detective Ryan Fitzgerald, Officer Matthew Travers, and Sergeant Mathieu Clifford, assigned to the takedown team tasked with taking Samuels into custody, waited in an unmarked police vehicle outside the apartment.
Detective Pimental said he, Detective Robert Kramer, and DEA Task Force Officer Jeffrey Danner, also of the Taunton Police Department, were in a second vehicle assigned to the “entry team,” which was tasked with entering the apartment.
“At approximately 12:30 p.m. Detective Ryan notified other detectives that the target (Samuels) was observed leaving the rear door of the apartment and was walking over to his vehicle,” Det. Pimental said. “At this time, the takedown team pulled into the driveway with the entry team following. The take down team successfully took Samuels into custody without incident.”
While Samuels was being taken into custody, Detective Pimental, Detective Kramer, and DEA Task Force Officer Danner knocked and announced their presence before forcing entry into Apartment 3.
“Detectives cleared the apartment and found no other persons to be present,” Det. Pimental said. “With the scene secure, Samuels was escorted back upstairs into the apartment.”
Once they were back in the apartment, Samuels was read his Miranda rights by Detective Kramer.
“While speaking with Samuels, he informed detectives that he had narcotics tucked in the rear of his pants,” Det. Pimental said. “Upon request, Samuels removed the narcotics from his pants and handed them to me.”
Detective Pimental said the bag of narcotics contained smaller bags inside it and, based on his training and experience, the narcotics were packaged for street-level sales.
“These narcotics were seized and placed in an evidence bag to later be logged as evidence,” Det. Pimental said. “I later asked Samuels if everything in the baggie that he just handed me was all crack cocaine. Samuels stated that the bag was mostly crack and some fentanyl. Samuel then stated that he would tell me where everything else was and directed me toward his bedroom. Samuels then pointed to a black coat hanging on the back of the door and stated the rest of his drugs were in the coat pocket.”
Detective Pimental said he then reached into the coat pocket and pulled out two separate large rock-like substances in glassine baggies.
“Through my training both white rock substances were consistent with crack cocaine,” Det. Pimental said, adding that the narcotics seized from the coat pocket were also placed into evidence bags to later be logged as evidence.
The detectives then searched the remainder of Samuels’ apartment and located the following:
- One black digital scale
- One silver 100-gram scale weight
- One box of fold-top glassine baggies (packaging)
- A mailed “letter of standing” listing Henry Samuels at 18 Adams Street, Apt. 3
- An Avis rental agreement in Henry Samuels’ name
- A debt ledger listing names and amounts owed by drug users
Detective Pimental said the narcotics seized during the search warrant were weighed and tested using the department-issued Thermo Scientific TruNarc portable narcotics analyzer, and the weights and test results are listed below.
Other Items seized during the search:
- 25.38 grams of cocaine base (from jacket pocket in the bedroom)
- 56.55 grams of cocaine base (from jacket pocket in the bedroom)
- 5.18 grams of cocaine base (from a bedroom dresser drawer)
- 29.07 grams of cocaine base (found on Samuels)
- 17 grams of suspected fentanyl (test result inconclusive) (found on Samuels)
- $434 in U.S. currency (found on Samuels), seized as alleged proceeds of narcotics distribution
Cocaine base refers to cocaine in its non-salt “base” form, often described as crack cocaine, rather than powder cocaine, which is typically cocaine hydrochloride.
“Detectives also executed the court authorized search of Samuels’ rental vehicle, which yielded negative results,” Detective Pimental said, adding that a copy of the motor vehicle search warrant was left inside the vehicle and a copy of the search warrant for the apartment was left on the coffee table in the living room of Samuels’ apartment.
Samuels was then transported to the Taunton Police Department for booking.
Henry Samuels, 37, of 18 Adams Street, Apt. 3, Taunton, was charged with the following:
- Fentanyl, Trafficking in More than 10 Grams
- Cocaine, Trafficking in 100 Grams or More, Less than 200 Grams
Samuels’ bail was set at $2,500 cash or $25,000 surety bond.
Samuels was arraigned in Taunton District Court on Feb. 2, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the arrest in this story took place in January, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
To learn more about News Link Live’s unique business model, please read the following:
An online business model that could replace local newspapers
Why The Leominster Champion Failed
The Medium is the Message by Marshall McCLuhan
The Ego and the ID by Sigmund Freud
