WASHINGTON COUNTY, Maine — An ongoing Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) investigation focused on heroin and crack cocaine trafficking from New York to Downeast Maine lead to a police standoff Wednesday night and the arrest of three men.
The MDEA and Washington County Sheriff’s Deputies served a search warrant at the home of Mark Fields on County Road in Trescott Wednesday night. MDEA agents and deputy sheriffs surrounded Fields’ home around 9 p.m., but the men refused to come out of the house, and Fields threatened violence against the agents.
The Maine State Police tactical team was requested to assist with the arrests.
The standoff lasted for several hours, the MDEA says, but eventually, the tactical team was able to force Fields and the other two men out of the house. They were then taken into custody.
The suspects attempted to dispose of drugs in the home, but agents were able to recover more than a half-ounce of crack cocaine from the septic system. More than $10,000 of suspected drug money was also recovered in the search.
Mark Fields, 31, was charged with trafficking in cocaine base and creating a police standoff; Darius Hutchinson, 25, of New York was charged with trafficking in heroin and cocaine base, and creating a police standoff; and Justin Melendez, 25, of New York was charged with trafficking in cocaine base.
Hutchinson was also arrested on an arrest warrant for failure to appear in court, stemming from a December 2019 drug trafficking arrest.
The MDEA’s ongoing investigation included buying drugs directly from Fields and Hutchison at the Trescott home.
The MDEA says the investigation remains active and more arrests are likely.
