A Presque Isle woman has been arrested for allegedly trafficking in drugs that contributed to the 2019 death of a man from Mapleton.
An Aroostook County grand jury indicted Melissa Carney, 36, on Nov. 18 on a charge of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs that resulted in the death of a 40-year-old Mapleton man, according to police. She was arrested on Dec. 1 and has been released on bail.
Maine State Police Cpl. Nick Casavant was sent to a possible drug overdose on Oct. 19, 2019, on West Chapman Road in Mapleton. The man, whose identity is being withheld, was declared deceased where he was found, and the cause of death later was ruled to be a drug overdose from heroin mixed with fentanyl, police said.
Casavant’s subsequent investigation led to Carney’s indictment and arrest.
The County has seen a recent rise in drug overdose cases. Maine State Police have handled five drug overdose deaths since the beginning of November alone. The latest deaths have been from heroin laced with fentanyl, which is not a new problem in Maine. In 2020, there were 504 drug overdose deaths in the state, according to the Maine attorney general’s office.
Police provided the following resources to help those struggling with addiction: Aroostook Mental Health Services Access Center, 1-800-244-6431; Power of Prevention Substance Abuse Resource Directory: powerofprevention.org; or report drug activity tips to the state police at 207-532-5400.