PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Burrillville postal worker has been charged with stealing guns and other items from the mail and with drug trafficking, the Rhode Island attorney general's office said Friday.

Aubrey Dante, 54, was charged Oct. 22 in Sixth Division District Court with six counts of larceny of a firearm, four counts of possession of a stolen firearm, five counts of carrying a dangerous weapon while committing a crime of violence and three counts of larceny of more than $1,500, prosecutors said. He also faces five counts of possession with intent to deliver more than a kilogram of cocaine, one count of possession with intent to deliver more than five kilograms of marijuana, one count of possession with intent to deliver more than a kilogram of heroin and a related drug count.

Judge Stephen M. Isherwood ordered Dante held without bail and scheduled a status conference for Oct. 29.

According to prosecutors, investigators began looking into the case after several U.S. Postal Service parcels containing guns, coins, trading cards and jewelry were reported stolen between April and September. Using surveillance, parcel scans and other methods, investigators identified Dante and saw him on several occasions opening packages and removing their contents while working at the Postal Service's Providence Processing and Distribution Center, the office said.

Dante was arrested outside his home Oct. 21 as officers carried out search warrants, prosecutors said. Investigators seized eight guns, including three stolen Sig Sauer 9mm pistols, along with a shotgun and several revolvers, the office said. They also reported seizing more than a kilogram of cocaine, about 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine pills, crystal methamphetamine, about 79 pounds of marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and Xanax pills.

The investigation involved Providence police, the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the attorney general's Urban Violent Crime Task Force.

The charges are allegations, and Dante is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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