Down East drug busts yield sixteen arrests

PLEASANT POINT – During the past few weeks, police swooped down on several communities and arrested 16 people and charged them either with trafficking or possession of drugs.

Among the drugs seized were the prescription narcotic OxyContin and marijuana.

The arrests culminated a three-month investigation led by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency working closely with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

“The … MDEA also partnered with officers from the Pleasant Point, Eastport and Machias police departments,” Darrell Crandall, MDEA division commander, said Tuesday.

Since late September, agents have used informants to purchase drugs from a number of suspected traffickers in Washington County, Crandall added.

A vast majority of the drugs, the MDEA commander said, involved prescription drugs, while a few of the suspects were charged with trafficking in marijuana. “No additional information about the investigation or the suspects is being released at this time,” Crandall said. Nor did he identify the dollar amount of the drugs taken off the street.

In 2000, the Pleasant Point Police in connection with MDEA and other police agencies arrested 17 people on the reservations at Pleasant Point and Indian Township and in Eastport and Princeton.

Pleasant Point Police Chief Joseph Barnes said Tuesday his message to drug dealers was “beware.”

“We want them to know that we are still here. Unfortunately, we haven’t done one this big in a while. It’s not because we’re not doing anything,” he said. “It takes time to get at these people. We want them to know we haven’t forgotten them and we want them to know this isn’t the end, just the beginning.”

Crandall’s message to drug traffickers: “We are around every corner.”

Two people were charged with aggravated trafficking in schedule drugs: Dwayne Sockabasin, 40, of Pleasant Point and Blaine Cushing, 51, of Eastport. “All of the charges in this case were aggravated because the transactions took place within a 1,000 feet of a school,” Crandall said.

Also arrested was Deanna Metcalf, 36, of Machias who was charged with aggravated furnishing of Schedule W drugs.

Those charged with trafficking in Schedule W drugs were: Kisha Dennison, 35, of Machias; Ricky Wilcox, 47, of Machias; David Murray, 53, of Dennysville; Judy Murray, 44, of Dennysville; Justin Jones, 28, of Pembroke; Leslie Cushing, 27, of Pembroke; Alfred Sears, 59 of Pembroke; Arthur Worster, 22, of East Machias; and Robert Newell, 39, of Pleasant Point.

The following were charged with trafficking in Schedule Z drugs: Dan Massey, 37, of Pembroke; Patrick Smith, 38, of Perry; and Mike Ward, 22, of Pembroke.

Lisa Grant, 37, of East Machias was arrested and charged with possession of a Schedule W drug.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency – Maine’s statewide drug task force – is staffed in Washington County with officers from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Baileyville Police Department and the Pleasant Point Police Department.

“MDEA will continue to work closely with all interested agencies to coordinate an effective, cooperative pursuit of those individuals who choose to sell drugs in Down East Maine.” Crandall said. “The actions of these suspected criminals only serve to perpetuate a problem that already impacts far too many families.”