Winterville drug raid nets $8,000 in cocaine
Staff Writer
WINTERVILLE PLANTATION — A drug raid has netted cocaine valued at over $8,000 and the arrest of a man on felony cocaine trafficking charges.
Polakowski
“Winterville is a small Aroostook County town of about 200 people, just south of Eagle Lake on Route 11. MDEA agents and sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant May 18 at the home of 23-year-old Steven Polakowski on Route 11 shortly after 10 p.m. Polakowski and family members were home at the time and offered no resistance,” said Darrell Crandall, MDEA division commander.
During the raid, agents and deputies seized approximately 83 grams of cocaine, with a retail value of $100 per gram.
“Several hundred dollars in cash, digital scales, drug ledgers, about one-quarter pound of marijuana and illegal fireworks were also seized,” said Crandall.
Polakowski is charged with unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, a Class B crime, and was taken to the Aroostook County Jail. He made his initial court appearance May 19 and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on Sept. 16. The maximum penalty for a Class B offense is 10 years in prison.
Crandall said Polakowski has been under investigation by MDEA since November of 2009.
“Earlier the week of the raid, an unrelated Sheriff’s Department investigation produced information that led MDEA agents to make a purchase of cocaine from Polakowski at his residence. That was followed by the May 18 search warrant. The investigation established the cocaine came from another New England state, and agents allege Polakowski was traveling there to get the drug,” said Crandall.
Aroostook County Sheriff Jim Madore praised the cooperative law enforcement effort.
“We have to communicate and cooperate if we expect to stay ahead of criminal activity, The Sheriff’s Office has three officers assigned to MDEA who work shoulder to shoulder with local officers and a state trooper on this problem every day,” said Madore.
The Aroostook District Task Force of MDEA is staffed by officers from the Aroostook Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police, Houlton and Presque Isle police.
Anyone with information on drug trafficking may call MDEA, toll free, at 800-452-6457 or go to www.maine.gov/dps/mdea/dru=gtip.html.
Photo courtesy of MDEA
