In a shocking turn of events, an aide to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has been arrested on charges of drug trafficking. The aide allegedly attempted to send eight kilograms of cocaine directly to his office in the state.

The individual in question, 45-year-old LaMar Cook, was apprehended during a traffic stop on Tuesday night. This arrest occurred just a day after his Springfield office was searched by investigators as part of a broader investigation, according to a report from MassLive.

The investigation kicked off on October 10 when authorities intercepted two suspicious packages at Hotel UMass in Amherst. These packages contained a total of 13 kilograms, or almost 29 pounds, of cocaine. Cook had been the director at this location for nearly seven years.

On Saturday, the Massachusetts State Police seized an additional eight kilograms, or approximately 18 pounds, of cocaine at the state building located in Springfield.

In a sting operation, a state trooper disguised as a delivery worker handed the parcel over to Cook, who was reportedly at the location awaiting the drug delivery.

Cook is now facing serious charges, including cocaine trafficking, carrying a firearm and ammunition without a license, and driving without a license.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Springfield District Court on Wednesday, when Judge William Rota ordered he be held at Hampden County Jai pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday. 

The judge also set a $25,000 bond in connection with the gun charge.

LaMar Cook, 45, a former aide to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, was taken into custody on Tuesday night after he allegedly sent eight kilograms of cocaine to his state office

A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts governor said he was ‘fired immediately’

‘You’ll be our guest for a few days, but you’ll have a full and complete hearing on Friday,’ Rota told Cook.

But outside of the courthouse, Cook’s lawyer, Kedar Ismail, told reporters he is ‘looking forward to clearing [Cook’s] name.’

In the meantime, Cook has lost his position in the Massachusetts state government, with a spokeswoman for Healey’s office saying his conduct was ‘unacceptable and represents a major breach of the public trust.’

She added that Cook, who was serving as deputy director of the governor’s Western Massachusetts office, was ‘fired immediately’ upon his arrest.

‘The criminal investigation is ongoing and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work,’ spokeswoman Karissa Hand said.

Cook was appointed to serve under Healey in 2023, when the governor praised him and Kristen Elechko, the director of the Springfield office, as ‘two proven leaders with deep ties to Western Mass.

‘They know the communities, they know the businesses, they know the needs and opportunities of the region,’ Healey said at the time, according to the Boston Globe. 

Cook had made a name for himself in the Springfield community by serving on the Springfield Community Preservation Committee and as the cofounder of the Back to School Brighter Initiative, which provides children in the city with free haircuts, backpacks and school supplies.

He also ran for Springfield City council and the local school board. 

Cook was previously arrested in 2001, and is facing civil suits over his debts

During his time with the governor’s office, Cook made $115,668, state records show.

He had previously worked in the hospitality industry, at several Springfield-area hotels, according to his LinkedIn.

But Cook has had some legal troubles in the past.

In 2001, he was one of several residents arrested in connection with a gunfire incident that occurred near the city’s Mason Square neighborhood, MassLive reports.

He reportedly was part of a group that rolled up in a car with handguns, shooting at another group of people standing on a front porch at around 1am.

Several rounds were fired, but only one man was hit.

Cook and two others were then charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a handgun within 500 feet of a dwelling and unlicensed possession of a firearm.

The outcome of that case remains unclear.

Years later, though, Cook apparently started to have financial issues, with a debt collector filing a suit against him in 2014, according to the Globe.

Ten years later, Cook was again sued over $5,600 owed on a Capital One card, and in 2025, a debt collection company sued him in small claims court, saying he owed more than $2,400 on a Macy’s credit card.

The 2024 case was dismissed, but the other two are still pending. 

The arrest comes as Healey faces a tough re-election

Cook’s most recent run-in with the law has now drawn fire from Healey’s Republican challengers as she faces a tough re-election.

She has been walking a political tightrope since Donald Trump, 78, came to power in January, as she hit out at Trump’s tariffs and deportations, and blamed his policies for the ‘tremendous amount of chaos, uncertainty and unpredictability’ seen in Massachusetts and beyond.

An internal poll paid for by her Republican opponent, Mike Kennealy, 57, found that Healey is in an ‘extremely vulnerable position.’

Some 45.5 percent of voters hold a favorable opinion of the Democrat politician – but the same number dislike her as a leader, per the Opinion Diagnostics survey seen by DailyMail.com.

The study of more than 800 likely Massachusetts voters from February 11-12 found that 33 percent hold a ‘very’ unfavorable opinion of Healey, who has served as governor since January 2023. 

‘After a first-year honeymoon, Healey has faced unrelenting challenges over the past sixteen months on issues such as immigration, affordability, energy, transparency, and housing,’ the pollsters said. 

‘As a result, Healey enters the 2026 election cycle in an extremely vulnerable position.’

Kennealy, who previously served as the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, has now called Cook’s arrest a ‘disgrace for our state.

‘There’s something fundamentally rotten in this administration,’ he admonished.

Former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority executive Brian Shortsleeve, another Republican gubernatorial candidate, also said the arrest is ‘not bad luck, it’s bad leadership.

‘It tells us everything we need to know about how [Healey] runs her administration.’