Heroin confiscated, 2 arrested in drug raid

A drug raid in a Hancock County gravel pit Thursday evening has resulted in the arrest of two men and the removal of hundreds of bags of heroin intended for Washington County, authorities said Friday.

Darrell Crandall, task force supervisor for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, said a Northfield man was arrested in connection with the raid.

Working jointly with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, MDEA agents targeted Perry Pennell, 49, several months ago as the focus of their investigation into a Machias-area drug ring.

After their arrest in Aurora, Pennell and Timothy Cates, 25, of Oakland were jailed Thursday in Hancock County. Pennell met his bail of $1,000 and Cates had not yet posted bail for the same amount as of late Friday.

Pennell also will be charged with some retail drug sales within Washington County, Crandall said.

Pennell, 49, works as a civilian contractor at the Cutler naval base.

During March and early April, informants allegedly were able to buy heroin and prescription narcotics from Pennell.

On Thursday, believing Pennell was leaving to meet his alleged heroin supplier, agents followed him to a gravel pit off Spec Pond Road in Aurora. After Cates, 25, got into Pennell’s vehicle, MDEA agents, deputies and state troopers moved in.

They seized 200 bags of heroin and $1,740 cash from Pennell.

Later Thursday, MDEA agents went to Cates’ apartment on Fairfield Street in Oakland and recovered an additional 116 bags of heroin, they reported.

The retail value of the 316 bags of heroin is $9,480, Crandall said.

The investigation, which is continuing, has involved the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, the Maine State Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.