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MDEA Agents and Presque Isle Police Disrupt Heroin Trafficking Ring
Fort Fairfield Journal, October 31, 2012 MDEA Agents and Presque Isle Police have charged four suspects following a criminal investigation into reports of heroin trafficking in the "Star City." John Ansolini, 21, of Fort Fairfield and Troy Marchant, 25, of Presque Isle are charged with two counts of Class B - Unlawful Trafficking in Heroin. 24-year-old Joshua Willette is charged with Class A - Aggravated Trafficking in Heroin. Brian Gilmer, 23, of Presque Isle, is charged with Class B, Theft of a Firearm and Violation of Conditions of Release.The investigation began over the weekend of October 20-21, following reports that heroin was being sold from a home on Dragon Drive in Presque Isle. Agents were able to purchase heroin on two occasions from Marchant and Ansolini, which agents allege came from Lorraine Michaud's home on Dragon Drive. On Tuesday night, MDEA Agents and Presque Isle Police executed a search warrant at Michaud's home, seizing heroin packaging, scales, a grinder with heroin residue, $890 in cash, a Glock 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine and 525 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Lorraine and her son Joshua Willette, Troy Marchant, John Ansolini and two young children were present in the home at the time of the raid. Agents allege the heroin sold by Ansolioni and Marchant came from Joshua Willette. Due to the close proximity of the firearm to the drug evidence, Joshua's offense is aggravated. Agents and Presque Isle Police determined that the firearm seized from Willette belongs to Brian Gilmer's father. Agents determined that Gilmer took it without his father's permission, so he is charged with theft. Gilmer was already on bail for theft. All of the suspects were taken to the Aroostook County Jail. Heroin seizures and arrests have been on the rise across Maine for several months, working their way from south to north. Since the early 1960s, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been directly involved with assisting third -world drug farmers and dealers in the cultivation, production and transportation of morphine base and refined heroin into the U.S. to provide an off-the-books revenue stream for their “covert ops” and to provide money to buy off local tribal chiefs in southeast Asia. More recently, the U.S. Marines have officially begun assisting poppy farmers in Afghanistan in growing their crops, which ultimately get refined into morphine and heroin to be shipped to the U.S. with the full consent of the U.S. government.Information on drug crimes may be reported to MDEA at 1 -800-452-6457, at MDEA's website at www.maine.gov/dps/mdea or at MDEA's smartphone application for iPhone and Android at MyPD.
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