ROCKLAND, Maine — The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested three people and charged three others in the midcoast area this week, accusing them of drug violations ranging from trafficking in cocaine to growing marijuana.
On Thursday, agents arrested Ralph White, 49, of Rockland for selling cocaine on the Rockland Fish Pier, near a drug-free zone, according to a press release issued Friday by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Officers said they had been watching White for several months before arresting him on a Class A felony charge of aggravated trafficking of cocaine and Class C possession of hydrocodone. The more severe Class A crime is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
White remains in Knox County Jail in Rockland unable to meet bail of $1,000.
In an unrelated case, members of the MDEA, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police and Maine Warden Service executed a search warrant on Sept. 21 at the Hope home of Christian Willis Neils, 33, where police said they found 26 marijuana plants growing outside and 3.5 pounds of marijuana packaged for sale inside. Police estimate the total street value of the drugs at more than $7,000.
According to the press release, police also found “scales and other evidence of drug trafficking.” Because officers found a shotgun with the drugs in the home, what would have been a charge of trafficking marijuana was elevated to a Class B crime of elevated marijuana trafficking. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in jail and a $20,000 fine.
Neils was not home at the time but turned himself in Thursday at Knox County Jail and since has been released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Neils was found guilty last May of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for his involvement in a September 2009 protest that disrupted a Land Use Regulation Commission hearing in Bangor on a Plum Creek development plan. He was ordered to pay the court $500 in that case, while charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct were dropped against five other protesters. A criminal trespass charge filed against Neils also was dropped.
According to Friday’s press release, agents with MDEA and the Rockland Police Department arrested Sarah Monroe, 31, of Rockland on Tuesday after an investigation reportedly determined that she was selling the prescription medication Adderall from her Rankin Street home. Adderall is an amphetamine typically used in treatment of attention deficit disorders.
She was charged with Class B trafficking, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Monroe since has been released from Knox County Jail on $500 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 27.
In addition, MDEA agents on Thursday summoned three other people accused of growing marijuana.
Diana Sampson, 61, of Monroe was charged with possession of marijuana when police found two marijuana plants growing in her backyard and 2.5 pounds of marijuana in her home, according to the release. Police reported the value of the drugs at about $6,000.
“The [monetary] amounts are based on the quality of the marijuana,” Pease said Friday.
Police also executed search warrants Thursday at neighboring homes on North Searsport Road in Searsport from which they reportedly confiscated 32 marijuana plants. MDEA agents summoned Alan Kenney, 54, of Searsport on a charge of cultivation of marijuana and then summoned his neighbor Gregory Arsenault, 42, of Searport for the same crime. Kenney had 18 marijuana plants growing at his house, according to police, and Arsenault had 14 plants growing at his residence. Police said they also found half a pound of processed marijuana at Arsenault’s home.
According to James Pease, supervisor of MDEA’s midcoast task force, it is about the time of the year when marijuana plants are getting large. Most growers harvest around the time of the first frost of the year, he said.
“As the plants get bigger, people smell them, see them, and as we work we learn more about other marijuana growers,” Pease said Friday.
Pease’s team has been executing about five search warrants a week for marijuana.
“We’ve been very, very busy,” he said.
Pease asked anyone with information about illegal drug transactions on the midcoast to call 594-6188.