Two Massachusetts women were arrested Thursday night while allegedly trying to distribute 1.4 pounds of the deadly drug fentanyl in Bangor, according to police.
The seizure comes on the heels of a report that 2022 marked the deadliest year in Maine’s history for both overdose deaths and fentanyl-related overdose deaths.
For the past year, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said it has been investigating a Lawrence, Massachusetts-based drug trafficking organization responsible for the distribution of record amounts of fentanyl throughout Hancock, Somerset, Piscataquis and Penobscot counties.
MDEA said it identified traffickers in October 2022 in Hancock County who were allegedly being supplied by this group. Agents said undercover purchases of fentanyl and meth were bought from local dealers.
On Thursday, agents spotted two women from Lawrence, Massachusetts, in a rental car who allegedly had come to Maine to distribute fentanyl in Hancock and Penobscot counties. Agents stopped the car around 10 p.m. on Union Street in Bangor and found 1.4 pounds of fentanyl hidden in the engine compartment of the rental car, according to police. They also found over $5,000 in suspected drug proceeds. The street value of the drugs is about $94,000.
Agents arrested Krismely Guzman, 24, and Eri Geilys Polanco Cacers, 22, and charged them with aggravated drug trafficking. They were taken to Penobscot County Jail where their bail was set at $100,000 cash each.
