Interstate shipments of drugs lead to arrests by MDEA

On behalf of MDEA Director Roy E. McKinney, Maine Drug Enforcement Division Commander Darrell Crandall reported the following information regarding a tip from the Aroostook County Crimestoppers.     “In November of 2008, Aroostook County Crimestoppers received a tip that a Madawaska couple would be retrieving a package containing OxyContin from the Presque Isle Post Office. The caller reported that this was not the first such shipment, and that the couple was selling the drugs in Aroostook County. Working with U.S. Postal inspectors, MDEA agents confirmed the presence of the incoming package and set up surveillance at the post office.
Twenty-six-year-old Casie Levesque and Carl Thibeault, 28, both of Madawaska, were arrested outside the post office after agents recovered an Express Mail package containing 45, 80 milligram OxyContin tablets. The investigation continued and agents determined that two previous deliveries of the same amount had taken place and that all had come from John Goldman, 40, of Petaluma, Calif. Levesque and Thibeault were charged with trafficking in OxyContin.
As the investigation progressed, it was established that Goldman was also sending packages containing OxyContin to James O’Hare, 22, of Van Buren and 19-year-old Haley Perkins, also of Van Buren. Additionally, MDEA agents tracked more than a dozen packages that had been shipped to Matthew McCurdy, 20, of North Waterboro. All three suspects were charged with trafficking in OxyContin.
MDEA agents provided all of their investigative information to detectives at the Petaluma.Police Department, who executed search warrants in their jurisdiction and arrested Goldman. He is charged (in California) with possession for the purpose of sales of a controlled substance, and transportation of a controlled substance.
Financial records were seized in both Maine and California showing money being transferred from Maine suspects’ accounts to Goldman’s accounts in California.
Overall, MDEA agents can account for more than 40 packages being shipped into Maine over a six month period in 2008.  Given the average street value of OxyContin, MDEA estimates the value of this illicit operation could exceed $140,000.
The investigation involved work by four of MDEA’s eight district task forces. MDEA also appreciates the support and assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Petaluma Police Department and Aroostook County Crimestoppers.
The case has now been forwarded to the District Attorneys’ Offices in Aroostook and York counties for review.
Crandall said, “The diversion and illicit sale of OxyContin and other powerful painkillers is a critical public health and public safety issue facing the State of Maine.”