Steven Nordstrom was more than a little frantic after getting off the Amtrak Downeaster in Saco and realizing he had forgotten his bag.

Inside it was $11,700, police say, and $2,000 worth of heroin and cocaine.

When Nordstrom showed up at the Portland Transportation Center hours later to claim his lost bag, plainclothes officers were happy to give it to him — then arrest him on drug trafficking charges.

Amtrak workers found the bag, a small gym pouch with a drawstring, as they checked the cars at the end of the line in Portland before dawn on Sept. 1.

Inside, they found papers identifying the owner, and something else.

Police say there were 11 grams of heroin and six grams of cocaine — drugs that Nordstrom had picked up in Massachusetts.

He and his girlfriend apparently left the bag on the train because Nordstrom had fallen asleep and they almost missed their stop, said Sgt. Kevin Cashman, supervisory agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

At 1:20 a.m., he said, “they scurried off in Saco and left the bag behind.”

Soon after, Nordstrom’s girlfriend called Amtrak, asking about the bag.

Amtrak police called Portland police, who along with MDEA agents arranged for the pickup.

The couple took a cab from Saco and got to the Portland Transportation Center at 4:30 a.m. Nordstrom showed plainclothes police his identification, confirmed that the bag was his and took it. Police arrested him.

Officers questioned him and he told them that the contents of the bag were his, Cashman said. Nordstrom is charged with aggravated trafficking heroin and possession of cocaine.

He lives in Massachusetts but it’s unclear what town, Cashman said.

Police will seek to have a judge award them the cash to help fund future drug operations.

 

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com