DRUG BUSTS ACCENTUATE GROWING LOCAL PROBLEM OF HERION ABUSE

AUGUSTA - Heroin abuse in Maine's capital continues to grow at an alarming
rate.

After the largest heroin bust in Augusta's history on Sunday, police
arrested another man Tuesday afternoon for allegedly selling the highly
addictive drug.

Police arrested Ed Arbour, 23, at his residence on Bond Street on charges
of heroin trafficking and violation of probation. Arbour was the 18th
person to be arrested this year in Augusta on heroin-related charges,
according to police.

Before 2002, said detective Lt. Dennis Passmore, "I don't think we've had
18 heroin arrests in the last 20 years."

Law enforcement reports and a large number of heroin-related treatment
admissions indicate that heroin is abused widely in Maine. Abuse levels are
highest in Augusta, Bangor, Brunswick, Lewiston and Portland.

On Monday, police seized nine bags - each holding one-tenth of a gram - of
heroin at Dawn Colomy's residence on Bond Street. Colomy was summonsed for
possession of heroin, and during the investigation, police arrested two Bog
Road residents on charges of selling heroin and marijuana. As a result of
that investigation, police arrested Arbour on trafficking charges,
according to Passmore.

"We are getting flooded with heroin and crack-cocaine investigations," he said.

Assisted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Probation
and Parole, police on Sunday arrested Juan Ramon Taveras, 23, of Worcester,
Mass., on felony charges of aggravated trafficking in heroin and crack
cocaine. Police seized 500 bags of heroin and 19 grams of crack cocaine.

Working hand in hand with other law enforcement agencies has benefited
Criminal Investigation Division detectives at the Augusta Police
Department. The division investigates felonies in the city, including sex
and drug offenses, burglaries and financial and computer crimes.

Augusta Police Chief Wayne McCamish served as the division's chief of
detectives from 1985 to 1992.

"Heroin was basically unheard of 10 years ago," McCamish said. "Five years
ago, it was basically unheard of. We began picking up intelligence about
three years ago that it was here. In the last two years, it has really
taken a firm foothold not only in Augusta, but certainly in the central
Maine area."

Heroin and cocaine are Maine's biggest drug threat. Treatment admission
reports indicates that the level of cocaine abuse is relatively stable.
However, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports indicate that crack
cocaine abuse is increasing rapidly in southern and central Maine,
according to the National Drug Intelligence Center's Maine Drug Assessment
Update published this year.

Many heroin dealers from Maine travel Interstate 95 to reach their
suppliers in cities such as Lawrence, Lowell and Lynn, Mass. The Maine Drug
Enforcement Agency's Augusta Task Force reports indicate that the pattern
of heroin distribution from Massachusetts suppliers to dealers who travel
from market areas in Maine remains steady. Dealers from Kennebec County
typically travel to Worcester, Mass., according to the state agency.

"Heroin arrests have jumped markedly," said George Connick, a special agent
supervisor with the state drug agency. "All aspects have increased -
seizures, investigations and arrests. All the indicators you look for, as
far as the availability and use of heroin, clearly indicate there is a huge
market here."

For McCamish, that's nothing but bad news.

"This negatively impacts the quality of life in Augusta," he said. "It
destroys neighborhoods. It destroys people and for that, it is very sad."