DEA
Offices & Telephone Nos.
Bangor207-262-4666
Portland207-780-3331 |
State
Facts
Population: 1,286,670
Law Enforcement Officers: 2,734
State Prison Population: 3,100
Probation Population: 8,939
Violent Crime Rate
National Ranking: 48 |
2003
Federal Drug Seizures
Cocaine: 2.3 kgs.
Heroin: 0.1 kgs.
Methamphetamine: 0.0 kgs.
Marijuana: 17.6 kgs.
Ecstasy: 12 tablets
Methamphetamine Laboratories: 1 (DEA, state, and
local) |
Drug
Situation: Marijuana, locally grown and imported from Canada,
Massachusetts, and New York, remains the primary drug of abuse in Maine.
The use and availability of cocaine, heroin, and diverted pharmaceuticals
continue to increase. Methamphetamine remains a minor concern, but significant
potential exists for production and distribution in the state. Interstate
95 provides an important north-south transportation route for traffickers
travelling most frequently to sources of drug supply in several northeastern
Massachusetts cities. Additionally, Maine’s 228 miles of coastline
and 3,478 miles of shoreline offer ample opportunities for maritime smugglers.
Cocaine: Cocaine
is available throughout the state in fractional-ounce to kilogram quantities.
Residents, primarily Caucasians, historically have utilized Interstate
95 in passenger vehicles to meet cocaine suppliers, generally Dominican
violators based in Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn, MA. The popularity of
crack cocaine continues to increase in southern and central Maine communities,
with Biddeford and Lewiston serving as the main distribution points
for dealers.
Heroin:
Massachusetts-based Dominican traffickers continue to be the primary
suppliers of high quality heroin to the Maine distributors. These
distributors, who typically transport the drug in passenger vehicles,
provide for an increasing availability of heroin in the state. While
use is more prevalent in southern communities, it is also encountered
in coastal and Canadian-border communities, and use has spread into
rural and remote areas. Heroin abuse has increased, particularly
among younger teenagers in Bridgeton, Rockland, Penobscot, and York
counties.
![Methamphetamine lab seizures: 1999=0, 2000=2, 2001=2, 2002=0, 2003=0](/peth04/20041016194017im_/http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/maine_meth2004.gif) Methamphetamine: There
is a potential for methamphetamine to become a problem in Maine. Abuse
and availability have increased in Aroostook County. Low-quality metamphetamine
is often express-mailed into the
state from California and the southwestern states. Trafficking groups
supplying methamphetamine to the state generally are connected to outlaw
motorcycle clubs or are members of “the rave set.”
The seized methamphetamine
labs serve as a reminder that Maine’s
size and predominantly rural population create an ideal environment for
large-scale methamphetamine manufacturing.
Club
Drugs: Law-enforcement officials in southern Maine have
noticed a small increase in the use of MDMA, which continues to be associated
with rave parties and the student population.
Marijuana:
Marijuana, historically the illicit drug of choice in the state, is plentiful
and readily available. Year-round indoor grows are common, but high-grade
marijuana cultivated in Canada has been smuggled over the border.
Commercial-grade marijuana is often obtained from middlemen in the
southern New England states and New York. Hashish is available sporadically
in small quantities, but the increasing popularity of hashish in
Canada may change the situation in Maine. Traffickers have moved
hashish and hash oil through Maine and into Canada. Caucasian traffickers
typically supply locally grown marijuana as well as marijuana shipped
from the southwest border and Canada. Shipments ranging from 15 to
500 pounds typically enter the state via Interstate 95 in automobiles,
campers, rental trucks, and tractor-trailers. Motorcycle groups continue
to control much of the marijuana distribution in Maine, using associates
to distribute approximately 300 to 500 pounds monthly.
Marijuana
Legislation: Maine
has a number of statutes related to marijuana possession, cultivation,
trafficking, therapeutic research programs,
paraphernalia, illegal importation, and asset forfeiture. These laws
are often cited as the reason that Maine residents must travel to obtain
their illicit drugs from out-of-state traffickers wary of the state’s
tough drug laws.
Other
Drugs: PCP purchased in Boston, MA is available in the
southern portion of the state; LSD, available in gelcap form, is
abused by young
students; and psilocybin mushrooms, most often obtained from commercially
available cultivation kits, are available in Maine.
The state continues to experience an increase in the availability of
diverted pharmaceuticals. Oxycodone products, Percocet, Roxicet, and
OxyContin are readily available. Dilaudid is found in Washington County,
including the city of Calais. Many instances of doctor-shopping schemes,
falsified prescriptions, and pharmacy robberies of OxyContin have been
experienced in Lincoln County and the Portland area. Diverted Canadian
pharmaceuticals also are being smuggled into Maine.
DEA
Mobile Enforcement Teams:
This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts
was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related
violent crime in towns and cities across the nation. There have been
409 deployments completed resulting in 16,763 arrests of violent drug
criminals as of February 2004. There has been one MET deployment in the
State of Maine since the inception of the program, in Lewiston.
DEA
Regional Enforcement Teams: This program was designed to augment
existing DEA division resources by targeting drug organizations operating
in the United States where there is a lack of sufficient local drug law
enforcement. This Program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat
posed by drug trafficking organizations that have established networks
of cells to conduct drug trafficking operations in smaller, non-traditional
trafficking locations in the United States. Nationwide, there have been
22 deployments completed resulting in 608 arrests of drug trafficking
criminals as of February 2004. There have been no RET deployments in
the State of Maine.
Other
Enforcement Operations: Interstate
95, “The New England Pipeline,” remains
the interdiction focus in Maine since it travels through the interior
of the state, connects
several of the larger cities, and terminates at the Canadian border.
More information
about the New England Division Office.
Sources
Factsheet
last updated: 2/2004
Click
here for last year's 2003 factsheet>> |