SPRINGFIELD — A high-ranking aide to Governor Maura Healey has been arrested in a massive cocaine-trafficking and gun case, after investigators say more than 20 kilograms of cocaine were seized in a sprawling narcotics sting that reached all the way inside a Massachusetts state office building.

LaMar Cook, 45, the Deputy Director of the Governor’s Western Massachusetts Regional Office, was arrested Tuesday following a months-long investigation by Massachusetts State Police, Homeland Security, and federal drug agents, first reported by MassLive.

Prosecutors say Cook’s arrest followed a controlled delivery operation at the Springfield State Office Building, where he worked — a stunning breach of public trust that has stunned officials and raised serious questions about oversight inside the Healey administration.

According to the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, investigators intercepted a parcel containing roughly 8 kilograms of cocaine on Saturday. When Cook allegedly accepted the delivery, state police moved in, executing a search warrant inside his government office Monday night and uncovering further evidence tied to a larger trafficking pipeline.

That discovery, prosecutors say, was part of a much bigger web. Earlier this month, on October 10, investigators intercepted two suspicious packages at Hotel UMass in Amherst, uncovering another 13 kilograms of cocaine. Evidence from those shipments — packaging, labeling, and transit patterns — matched the drugs delivered to Cook’s office.

“Evidence collected during that operation was consistent with the narcotics recovered during the most recent controlled delivery in Springfield,” the DA’s office said in a statement, adding that the UMass case remains active and could lead to additional charges in Hampshire County.

Cook was charged with trafficking cocaine, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition, and will be arraigned Wednesday in Springfield District Court.

He was fired immediately, with the governor’s office calling the conduct “unacceptable” and “a major breach of the public trust.”

State records show Cook joined the Healey administration in April 2023, serving as the governor’s liaison for Western Massachusetts until his arrest.

The scandal has sent shockwaves across Beacon Hill — not just for the scale of the drug bust, but for the sheer audacity of where it happened: inside a state government building. The Springfield sting was the result of a multi-agency investigation involving weeks of surveillance, controlled deliveries, and coordination between state police and federal agents.

Two Republican gubernatorial candidates seized on the arrest Wednesday morning. Mike Kennealy called it “a disgrace and a direct reflection of Healey’s failed leadership,” saying it showed “something fundamentally rotten in her administration.” Brian Shortsleeve described the case as “disgraceful and dangerous,” accusing the governor of presiding over “a collapse of standards and screening across state government.”

If convicted, Cook faces up to 20 years in state prison for trafficking alone, with additional penalties possible on the firearm and ammunition charges.

The investigation remains ongoing under the Massachusetts State Police Narcotics Task Force in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations, with officials confirming that more arrests could follow.