Two people from central Maine and three from New York were arrested Tuesday in connection with an alleged drug ring in Somerset County, police said.
More than 18 ounces of crack cocaine and more than 2 ounces of pain reliever fentanyl – drugs police said have a combined street value of $72,000 – and a loaded handgun were seized during a police raid of a Fairfield home Tuesday, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said in a news release Wednesday.
Arrested were three people from Rochester, New York, all on Class A charges of aggravated trafficking in schedule W drugs: Markwan Granville, 19; Jamie Martinez Betances, 29; and a 17-year-old boy whose name authorities did not release. Also arrested were Rhonda Goldsmith, 43, of Vassalboro, on a Class A charge of aggravated trafficking in schedule W drugs, and Jeffrey Charette, 47, of Winslow, on a Class D charge of unlawful furnishing of schedule W drugs.
All five were taken to the Somerset County Jail in East Madison. Bail was set at $50,000 for Granville, Betances and the teenager; $25,000 for Goldsmith; and $2,500 for Charette.
Drug agents said the arrests were part of a two-month investigation, prompted by community complaints, into the distribution of crack cocaine and fentanyl throughout the Somerset County area. The investigation involved the Maine DEA’s South Central District Task Force, the Somerset and Kennebec county sheriffs’ offices, the Fairfield and Gardiner police departments and Maine State Police.
Authorities said they discovered a group from New York, was regularly coming to central Maine “with large amounts of illegal drugs that were sold to local users,” according to the news release.
On Tuesday, Gardiner police learned that the group was suspected of storing drugs at 376 Center Road in Fairfield. Drug agents got a search warrant and seized the drugs and loaded gun from the home.
Police said they’re still investigating and expect to make more arrests.
“Agents are also investigating what connection the residence owners, who were not present at the time, and the numerous people who stay at the residence, have to the investigation,” according to the release.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
