DEA Seizes $1.8M in Heroin and Fetanyl

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of Maine seized 4.4 pounds of heroin and four pounds of fentanyl as part of a drug bust in Massachusetts last week. 

The authorities said they believed the drugs, taken from two vehicles in Sanford, Maine, were en route to Maine.

This drug seizure was the largest in Maine’s history and part of the larger Bay State bust investigation that began Jan. 13th.

The approximately 8 pounds of the heroin and fentanyl mix is the equivalent of 35,000 individual doses, according to Maine Public Safety Commissioner John Morris.

"The arrests and seizure have likely saved a number of lives from drug overdoses in both Maine and New Hampshire from this poison," Morris said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the potent pain reliever fentanyl is 30 to 50 times more potent that heroin.

This crime is yet another reminder of Maine’s mounting drug problem. In 2015, a total of 272 Maine citizens died from a drug overdose.

"We've never had the epidemic that we're having now," Oxford County, Maine Sheriff's Office Sgt. Matthew Baker said.

Prescription pills, which those suffering from substance use disorder call a gateway drug to heroin, are readily available in Maine. According to a 2014 CDC report, Maine ranked first in the nation for long-term opioid prescriptions per capita.

According to Maine’s DEA, heroin is making its way up from Mexico’s poppy fields where it is produced.

What can be sold for $5 in New York City can go for $40 in Maine, said Roy McKinney, the director of Maine's DEA.

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