Canadian man faces federal drug charges

BANGOR – A Canadian man was released Monday on $10,000 unsecured bail after being charged in federal court with smuggling OxyContin into the United States.

Wayne Dow, 37, of Tower Hill, New Brunswick, was arrested Friday at the Milltown border crossing, a few miles north of downtown Calais.

His three minor children were passengers in the car, according to court documents.

As agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched his car, Dow admitted that he was smuggling OxyContin, according to court documents. He told agents that the pills were concealed inside the arm of the center console of the vehicle, which is where they were found.

Dow also told police that he was to be paid $200 to smuggle the pills across the border.

His arrest, according to court documents, is connected to the arrest last week of two Washington County men charged with possession with intent to distribute OxyContin.

Jerry McPhail, 33, of Perry and Travis Nicholson, 32, of Princeton were arrested Oct. 19 in the parking lot of the Maine Department of Motor Vehicles in Calais by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal and state drug enforcement agencies.

The two men were released the next day from federal custody on $20,000 unsecured bail each after appearing before a federal judge.

On the day Nicholson was arrested, agents observed him meeting with a man, who arrived in a car with New Brunswick license plates, in Marden’s department store in Calais.

Court documents do not identify the man as Dow.

If convicted, each man faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.