While investigating a February shootout between people in two cars, Portland police found what they called a “a significant drug trafficking network.”
The initial incident, which police described as a “rolling gunfight,” was reported on Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. Investigators learned that shots had been fired between two moving vehicles as they drove through residential streets between Forest and Stevens avenues in Portland.
Two days later, a patrol officer found one of the vehicles, a dark-colored Dodge Dart, near 77 Grant St. The car appeared to have multiple bullet holes, according to police. Using a search warrant for the registered owner, police learned the identity of and arrested a 17-year-old alleged to have had the car during the shooting.
The teen was charged with reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and sent to Longcreek Youth Development Center, the state’s youth prison.
Detectives later identified the owner of the other vehicle, a dark-colored Ford Explorer, which led to the discovery of the drug trafficking network, involving houses in Portland, Gray and New Gloucester used by people connected with the shooting and other criminal activity, police said.
On March 15, the Portland Police Department’s Special Reaction Team (similar to a SWAT team) executed a “high-risk search warrant” at 1445 Forest Ave., where they found a handgun, cocaine and evidence of drug trafficking, according to Portland police.
The following Friday, March 22, Portland detectives with help from the Maine State Police Tactical Team and negotiators, and agents from the FBI Southern Maine Gang Task Force, executed three more high-risk search warrants, at 88 Skips Way and 84 Highview Drive in New Gloucester, and at 38 Blackthorne Lane in Gray, where the Ford Explorer was found.
The Portland Special Reaction Team later arrested two 17-year-old males, who were found with guns, cash and cocaine. They were brought to Longcreek.
Portland police reported a total of six handguns, a shotgun, more than 400 grams of cocaine, and more than $44,000 seized in the operation.
“The sophistication of this drug trafficking network and the level of violence that we have connected with this group of youthful individuals is troubling. The ages of those involved range from 16 to 19 years-old,” Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois said in a news release.
