Man arrested for delivery $3M price of fentanyl to unsuspecting Maine restaurant hoping for brand new mugs
Workers at a Maine restaurant bought the shock of a lifetime Friday once they opened a supply and located $3 million price of fentanyl — not the cargo of latest mugs they’d been awaiting.
Staffers at Mac’s Grill in Auburn broke open the big wood crate, pondering the mugs they ordered have been inside, however as an alternative found a plastic tote with 31 kilos of the lethal drug packaged into bricks inside, Auburn police stated.
The tote had a delivery label from Arizona and was listed the title “Jeremy Mercier” above the eatery’s handle, however nobody by that title labored on the restaurant.
The restaurant employees referred to as the police and when the thriller man arrived an hour later asking for a package deal that was shipped along with his title on it, cops have been ready with handcuffs prepared.
Police arrested Mercier, 41, and confiscated $2,7800 he had on him as proof of alleged drug dealing proceeds along with the $3 million price of fentanyl.
It’s unclear why he selected Mac’s Grill to ship the medication to, however proprietor Mike Peters stated he was blissful he and his staff have been capable of assist intercept the extremely potent opioids.
“I’m glad that this fentanyl didn’t make its solution to the ‘road,’” he advised WMTW in an announcement. “The situations of overdose in our, and surrounding, communities is terrible, and fentanyl appears to be entrance and heart relating to fatalities. It is extremely unhappy.”
Nonetheless, he very politely requested the general public to ship their medication elsewhere subsequent time.
“If there are people on the market contemplating having their medication shipped right here, we’d kindly ask that they select some place else,” Peters wrote.
Mercier — who was out on pre-conviction bail for an unrelated prison cost — was charged with aggravated unlawful importation of scheduled medication, aggravated trafficking of scheduled medication, and violation of conditional launch.
He was being held within the Androscoggin County Jail with out bail.
“That is an lively, ongoing investigation and we do anticipate that our state and federal companions shall be becoming a member of this investigation,” Auburn Deputy Chief Tim Cougle stated.
The alleged drug supplier served a number of years in federal jail for a 2007 conviction for the distribution of cocaine, in response to Auburn police.