CHESTERVILLE – A tactical police force was mobilized Wednesday afternoon after a state drug agent was shot at while ripping up marijuana plants off Route 2.

Nobody was hurt when a bullet whizzed past the agent’s head at about 12:30 p.m., police said. The agent jumped from the all-terrain-vehicle and took cover as other agents rushed to the scene.

The drug agent who was shot at was not identified. He was said to be from the MDEA’s Lewiston field office, assigned to assist with the marijuana operation.

It was believed the shot was fired from a rifle after Maine Drug Enforcement agents spent the day ripping up pot plants in the woods around Route 2 in Chesterfield, directly south of Farmington.

The agent who was shot at was riding with two other undercover officers when a bullet passed by his head, police said.

Maine State Police were notified, and the Tactical Team sent several officers to the area. Investigators flew over the area in a plane and a helicopter but failed to find the suspect, according to Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland.

Tac Team officers as well as members of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office searched the area for more than an hour after the shot was reported.

McCausland said there is a sand pit, near the area where the shot was fired, that is regularly used for target practice. However, no one was found when police searched the area.

Police and drug agents remained in Chesterville into the night Wednesday.

“This is marijuana-harvesting time in Maine,” McCausland said. “The agents have been very busy.”