Boy Scout Volunteer Arrested For Allegedly Selling Heroin And Gun Possession

A Boy Scouts volunteer was busted in a drug raid in Staten Island, New York. According to NBC New York, 25-year-old Kevin Saunders is a suspect in a police seize. Authorities found 277 glassines of heroin, a shotgun, an imitation pistol, scales and drug packaging during the raid on Lafayette Avenue on Friday. 

Saunders was a volunteer with the scouts. The Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts has said that its putting him on a list of ineligible volunteers. Another man,  44-year-old Alan Soler, was also arrested. He has no ties to the Boy Scouts although SILive.com shared that he has two kids in the program—but the organization has put him on a similar list for parents who can't participate in Scouts activities.

As SILive.com reported, the two were arrested in at Soler's home. Authorities said that Staten Island Narcotics Heroin Overdose Task Force executed the search as part of an ongoing investigation following drug overdoses.

Per the New York Daily News, Staten Island Narcotics Heroin Overdose Task Force shared that drugs that Saunders allegedly sold were connected to at least one overdose death. 

The duo faces charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of  narcotic drugs, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a weapon and failure to register a weapon. Soler is also charged with resisting arrest.

In addition to the search itself, authorities said that there were two young children in the home during the search. Both defendants were also charged with two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17. It's not known whether the two kids are Soler's kids who are also Scouts.

The New York Daily News reported that Saunders was held on $25,000 bail. His defense argued that the drugs didn't belong to him and that only an ID badge found on the scene tied Saunders to the crime.  “What they found is an ID badge that actually happens to be a Cub Scout ID badge he happened to have with him when he was there with his cousins,” the lawyer said. “My client is a drug addict, your honor. He is not a dealer, he is a user.”

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