BIDDEFORD — A Biddeford man wanted for heroin trafficking has turned himself in.

Police say 34-year-old Edward Matthewson surrendered at the Biddeford Police Department at about 9 a.m. Wednesday.

According to a post on the department’s Facebook page Thursday, police obtained a warrant for Matthewson’s arrest on April 17, charging aggravated trafficking of a Schedule W drug, after he allegedly sold heroin to undercover Maine Drug Enforcement Agency officers within 1,000 feet of the St. James School on Graham Street.

The investigation is ongoing and police expect more arrests to be made, the post states.

Matthewson was taken to the York County Jail in Alfred, where he is being held on $25,000 bail, a jail official said Thursday. He is scheduled to appear in Biddeford District Court today.

For Biddeford police, the case illustrates a growing problem in the city, Police Chief Roger Beaupre said Thursday. “Right now we’re dealing with more heroin as a problem drug than any other thing,” he said.

The situation is further complicated by Fentanyl-laced heroin coming to the area from states like New York and Massachusetts, said Beaupre. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller, “makes (heroin) more dangerous” and leads to a higher rate of overdoses, he said.

The statistics speak for themselves.

In 2014, 47 percent of drug-related arrests made by MDEA officers in York County were made in Biddeford, said Beaupre. Biddeford’s population is only about 10 percent of the county’s.

Overall, from 2013 to 2014, the city saw a 46 percent increase in drug-related arrests and a 17 percent increase in drug-related police calls, according to documents provided by the department.

Another disturbing trend is that those who are overdosing on heroin in Biddeford are getting younger.

In 2012, the Biddeford Fire Department used the drug Narcan, which reverses the effects of a heroin overdose, 19 times on patients averaging 44 years old, said Beaupre.

In 2013, Narcan was used 30 times on patients averaging 40 years old, he said, and in 2014, the drug was used 53 times on patients averaging 35 years old.

“You can see the average age is almost 10 years younger in just a matter of 10 years,” said Beaupre. “There’s a drop in age of those people who are overdosing.”

Heroin isn’t just a growing problem in Biddeford. Members of the York County health and law enforcement communities recently banded together to form a task force dedicated to fighting heroin addiction throughout the county.

The task force’s first session was held in Wells in March and another is scheduled for next month in Biddeford. The date and place will be set next week, a spokesman for the task force said Thursday.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].