WATERVILLE — Police over the weekend took a significant amount of fentanyl and crack cocaine off the streets when they searched rooms at a local hotel and arrested four people in two separate incidents.
“It’s a large amount of drugs for patrol to be seizing,” Waterville Deputy police Chief Bill Bonney said Monday. “It’s great work by them, through following up on leads, following up on bail conditions and taking the stuff off our streets.”
At 11:50 p.m. Friday, police officers went to the hotel to conduct a bail check on a female who was renting a room, knocked on the door and people answered, but not the person renting the room, according to Bonney. He would not identify the hotel.
Bonney said Monday that when officers saw baggies containing a powder they believed to be fentanyl in the hotel room, the people inside tried to close the door. Inside the room, police found Brooke Knight, 27, of Hartland, who was free on bail conditions for drug-related charges. Officers found on her person 2.2 grams of fentanyl and a little more than 3 grams of crack, Bonney said. Police arrested Knight and charged her with Class E violating conditions of release and three counts of unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs, a Class C felony, according to Bonney. Bail was set at $17,500 cash. Knight was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, he said.
Also in the hotel room was Larry Munn Jr., 37, of St. Albans, who was free on bail for drug-related charges, Bonney said. Police found 5 grams of fentanyl on Munn and charged him with Class C unlawful furnishing, Class B unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and Class E violation of conditions of release, he said. His bail was set at $17,500, and he was taken to jail.
Police also charged Gibril Darboe, 21, of Bronx, New York, who was in the same room, according to Bonney. They found on his person a loaded Kel-Tec, 9 millimeter handgun, 24.5 grams of fentanyl and three prescription drugs for which he did not have a prescription, Bonney said. At the time, Darboe was free on bail conditions in Maine for non drug-related charges, he said. He was arrested and charged with two counts of Class A aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, one count of Class B aggravated furnishing, a count of Class E unlawful possession of drugs for the drugs for which he had no prescription and Class E violating conditions of release. Bail was set at $60,000 cash, and he was taken to jail, Bonney said.
Then at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the next day, officers arrested another person at the same hotel in a separate incident, according to Bonney. He said officers saw Travis Robinson, 33, of Winslow, drive into the hotel parking lot. They knew he was free on bail conditions that included he not be out past 8 p.m.
Officers stopped and searched Robinson and found 2.8 grams of fentanyl and 1.4 grams of crack on him, Bonney said. They confirmed he was renting a hotel room there. When they checked the room, which officers were allowed to do because of his bail conditions, they found a man and two 17-year-old girls from out of state, Bonney said. The man was not charged, and the girls were handed over to state Department of Health and Human Services workers to be returned to their parents, according to Bonney.
In that hotel room, police found 48.7 grams of crack, which they attributed to Robinson. They arrested and charged him with two counts of Class C unlawful furnishing; unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, Class D; aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, Class A; and violating conditions of release, Class E. Robinson was taken to jail, Bonney said.
All four people arrested are scheduled to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. April 8, according to Bonney, who said that they will see a judge before because they are incarcerated.
He praised the officers who worked on the two cases, saying it was great teamwork. Police have been working with the department’s Operation HOPE program, which helps people who are addicted get into rehab. They also are working to crack down on source-level suppliers of drugs, according to Bonney.
“When people here conspire with out-of-state source level suppliers, they are literally poisoning friends, families and other community members,” he said.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story