SKOWHEGAN — Police seized additional illegal drugs Saturday night and Sunday morning as part of an ongoing investigation in which five people were arrested Friday and charged with drug trafficking.
Chief David Bucknam of the Skowhegan Police Department said Sunday that police searched a 2018 Audi A4 late Saturday and early Sunday, seizing $10,700 in cash, 286 grams of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl and a handgun.
On Friday, $4,002 in cash, 17.5 grams of heroin, 50.9 grams of cocaine base, 15.2 grams of cocaine hydrochloride and 34.4 grams of fentanyl — with a total street value of about $9,000 — were seized from a different vehicle, a 2009 Mazda 3 on Middle Road, according to Bucknam.
The investigation began at about 10 p.m. Thursday when Skowhegan police, Somerset County Sheriff’s deputies and the Maine State Police responded to North Avenue for a report of people standing next to a vehicle, the Audi A4, and wearing ski masks near a duplex at the intersection of East Street, Bucknam said.
Skowhegan police Officer Jacob Pierce tried to contact them, but they fled on foot and police recovered two handguns next to the vehicle, Bucknam said. Police secured the Audi and had it towed to a safe location. It was reported stolen Friday, Bucknam said Sunday in a telephone interview.
At about 10:30 a.m. Friday, Skowhegan police officers and Somerset County Sheriff’s officials saw a 2009 Mazda 3 containing three males and two females leave the North Avenue duplex, he said.
Police stopped the car on Middle Road, just south of Redington-Fairview General Hospital, and Skowhegan officers and a sheriff’s deputy converged on the vehicle. Five people were arrested on charges including trafficking in scheduled drugs, a Class A crime, and unlawful trafficking in a scheduled drug, a Class B offense, Bucknam said.
Police said the five who were arrested are Katia Graves, 33, of Pittsfield; Kenneth McCoullum, 31, of Westbrook; Jamarie David, 23, of Springfield, Massachusetts; Jessica Tower, 32, of Madison; and Malachi White, 20, of Dorchester, Massachusetts. All but Graves were being held this weekend at Somerset County Jail in East Madison on $75,000 cash bail each.
Meanwhile, Skowhegan police Detective Kelly Hooper got a search warrant and police searched the Audi late Saturday and early Sunday, seizing the additional drugs and handgun, Bucknam said Sunday.
“This investigation is still ongoing, and I am extremely happy to see these drugs off the streets,” Bucknam wrote in an email. “This seizure is a huge hit to the individuals suffering from opiate addiction and I want to let everyone know we can help.
“You can go to Redington-Fairview General Hospital, Kennebec Behavioral Health, Somerset Public Health, or even come see me direct. There’s no judgement at any of these locations. I don’t care what town you live in. We want to help you get your life back. It’s 2023. … We can do this!!”
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