SEARSPORT, Maine — A Maine man and two other people have been charged as the result of a multi-state investigation into an alleged methamphetamine importing and trafficking ring based in Searsport, police said last week.
Gerald Gustafson, 51, of Searsport was arrested in September and charged with Class C unlawful possession of methamphetamine after he reportedly received a package of drugs sent through the U.S. Postal Service. Drug enforcement agents had been investigating the illegal distribution of methamphetamine in the small midcoast community, according to a media release issued by Cmdr. Scott Pelletier of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Agents were able to intercept three packages sent through the mail to Gustafson, and determined that they had been mailed by a Pennsylvania man and an Arizona woman. Officials obtained warrants for the arrest of Thomas Reynolds, 50, of McDonald, Pennsylvania, and Marina Saravia, 54, of Golden Valley, Arizona.
Reynolds was arrested on Thanksgiving Day in Pennsylvania by McDonald police officers and members of Pennsylvania’s Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force. He was charged with Class B unlawful trafficking in methamphetamine and is being held in the Pennsylvania county’s correctional facility as a fugitive from justice, pending extradition proceedings to get him to Maine, Pelletier said.
Saravia was arrested Wednesday in Arizona by officials from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department and the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team, who also charged her with Class B unlawful trafficking in methamphetamine. She is being held at the Mohave County Jail as a fugitive from justice pending extradition proceedings to bring her to Maine.
Agents reportedly seized approximately 35 grams of crystal methamphetamine during the investigation. With a street value in midcoast Maine of about $300 a gram, Pelletier said the drug seized were worth roughly $10,500.
Pelletier said the investigation continues and additional charges are expected.