Feds say North End man was trying to obtain guns, knockout drugs and cyanide for an out-of-state trip when he was arrested

As FBI agents with shirts identifying them as members of a task force that usually deals with weapons of mass destruction kept entering and leaving 143 Fulton St. in the North End on July 29, officials declined to say what they were looking for, but emphasized the public was not at risk.

Court documents unsealed today show that they were looking for potential knock-out drugs - specifically the date-rape drug GHB - and computers and phones belonging to a man who lived there and whom they now say they arrested before he could illegally leave the state and possibly threaten or even kill a former boyfriend - some nine years after he'd driven cross-country with a gun to threaten or possibly harm a teenager over a dispute in an online game.

Trevor Lucas was never a threat to the public because somebody alarmed by his behavior and pointed questions about killing somebody had alerted authorities and an undercover FBI agent had been playing along with Lucas for months by convincing him he could sell him handguns, a stun gun and possibly even cyanide - none of which Lucas ever actually obtained, according to the records.

Lucas was initially detained on July 29 for allegedly violating his supervised release on the cross-country-video-game conviction, for which he'd been released in July, 2019, after completing his sentence. Under the terms of his release, he was specifically barred from possessing controlled substances or guns.

But now federal officials are looking at new charges that could include possession of illicit drugs with intent to dispense or distribute and wire fraud, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent on the case.

The affidavit states Boston Police and the FBI began looking into Lucas in February, when somebody called the Boston Police anonymous tip line to report he grew alarmed while visiting with Lucas at his Fulton Street apartment and Lucas told him he was "a former convict" and, after learning the man worked in a lab, began asking him "a lot of questions about how to kill someone without being caught" and how to acquire drugs that would knock out or kill somebody. Lucas had moved into the apartment, which his father has owned since 1969, following his release from prison.

Police contacted the FBI, who managed to find the tipster and Boston Police used his contact info to convince him to come in for an interview, during which he said Lucas also asked him how to obtain a fake ID so he could leave the state without possibly tipping off his probation officer - and in fact had given him $240, several passport photos and a fake signature with which to procure such an ID.

In March, the affidavit continues, the tipster returned to 143 Fulton St. and said Lucas had told him he'd managed to obtain a "whole cocktail" of drugs on "the dark Web," and that Lucas had shown him what appeared to be drugs - GHB in liquid form in bottles disguised as sports energy drinks - in the building's vacant first-floor apartment.

In late March, the tipster introduced Lucas to a man who claimed he could help him get a forged New Hampshire license - using a postal money order Lucas had purchased at the Hanover Street post office.

On May 12, the affidavit states, Lucas and the undercover agent met somewhere away from Fulton Street, where the agent handed over an FBI-supplied New Hampshire license and Lucas allegedly asked whether the guy could get him a gun.

A month later, they talked by phone and Lucas asked for three specific guns - a Glock, a 9-mm Beretta and a .357 Magnum, according to the affidavit. The agent offered them for $3,500 - with another $1,000 for fraudulent money orders. In a followup call, Lucas specified the first two guns should be black or blue but that the .357 Magnum should be steel colored.

The two continued to discuss the purchases, along with a stun gun Lucas also wanted, over e-mail and a Facetime conversation for the next several weeks, the affidavit states.

On July 20, the affidavit continues, after chatting about the stun gun and money orders - and the possibility of buying just one regular gun instead of three, Lucas asked the undercover agent, "do you have anything relating to, um, cyanide or any type of ... strong ... knock you out type stuff?" After the agent asked "Uh, just knock you out?" the affidavit states, Lucas replied "I mean completely. Like for good." The agent agreed to look around and quote Lucas a price in a phone call they scheduled for July 23.

The affidavit does not state if the two talked again before Lucas was detained on July 29.

Innocent, etc.