CARIBOU, Maine —The Aroostook County grand jury has indicted a Florida resident for allegedly trying to sell heroin in the area in February, just weeks after he was released from a Miami prison and moved into a home in Fort Fairfield.
Ignacio D. Roque, 37, was indicted Friday on a charge of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, according to Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins.
Collins said Tuesday one indictment remains sealed pending an arrest in a separate drug case.
Roque was arrested in April following a joint operation by members of the Fort Fairfield Police Department and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The investigation included an undercover purchase of heroin from Roque, according to MDEA Commander Peter Arno. When a search warrant was executed on a residence inside the Border View Apartments in Fort Fairfield, where Roque had been living since shortly after his release from prison, agents found more than 2 ounces of bulk, unpackaged heroin with a street value of more than $20,000, according to Arno.
Other evidence of drug trafficking also reportedly was seized during the search. Supervisory Special Agent Craig Holder of the MDEA’s Aroostook County Task Force said Roque has a 51-page criminal history extending back to when he was a juvenile. The history includes multiple convictions for drug offenses, as well as burglary, theft and resisting arrest. All the offenses took place in Florida.
At the time of his arrest in Maine, Roque was wanted on an outstanding warrant from Florida for parole violations, Arno said.
Fort Fairfield Police Chief Bill Campbell said the apartment complex where Roque set up his operation was in the middle of the community, not in a rural location.
Also indicted by the grand jury were Katie L. Ramus, 37, of Presque Isle and Norberto Colon, 31, of Brockton, Massachusetts.
Ramus was indicted on a charge of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.
Colon was indicted on aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs and violation of condition of release.
Ramus was on probation for an unrelated charge, which allowed agents involved in a heroin investigation to search her home in May, Arno reported at the time. Colon, who also was on bail for an unspecified charge, was inside the home when agents arrived.
Officers found nearly 13 grams of heroin with a street value of $5,000, both inside the house and in Colon’s car, Arono said.