PORTLAND (AP) – A parking lot shootout in which one man was gunned down over a drug debt as bystanders scattered and hid behind cars in Saco underscored an alarming trend: drug killings were up in 2007, law enforcement officials say.

Five separate drug-related homicides were recorded in Maine, the first time that has happened since the state started keeping detailed records in 1970, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Drug agents are seeing more weapons, larger quantities of drugs and greater involvement of out-of-state gangs, said Ken Pike of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“Guns are more prevalent and there’s more violence involved in trafficking compared to years gone by,” said Pike, MDEA commander for southern Maine.

The Saco shootout caught the attention of drug agents because one of the assailants, Andy Luong, 22, of Biddeford, used an assault rifle to fire off 15 rounds and kill another man, Seiha Srey, 25, of Cape Elizabeth, over a $7,500 drug debt.

Srey, who was armed with a .45-caliber handgun, was shot in the head. Luong later shot himself to death after his car was disabled by police.

Four other homicides centered on drugs, police said.

Allen Bennison, 21, of Sanford, was stabbed to death outside a convenience store; Richard Lessard, 52, of Lewiston, was stabbed a month later in his home; and Tad Howard, 27, of Ellsworth, was shot to death in a remote area of Amherst, police said.

The last victim, Mario Litterio, 70, was shot in the back of his head near his home in Prentiss by a friend who told police he was high on cocaine.

Overall, the state ended 2007 with 21 homicides, which was below last year’s level of 23 and the annual historic average of 24, McCausland said. Maine’s record low for homicides was 11 in 2000; the worst year for homicides was 40 in 1989.

Accompanying the decrease in homicides last year was a downturn in fire-related deaths. As the year came to a close, the state had recorded 11 fire deaths, which could beat the previous all-time record low of 12 fire deaths in 1995.

But the number could grow depending on the state medical examiner’s determination of cause of death in a car wreck that took two lives early on Christmas Day, McCausland said.

The car burst into flames in Hollis, and it remained to be seen whether the two victims died from the impact or from the ensuing fire, McCausland said. So the deaths could be recorded as either highway fatalities or fire deaths, he said.

Fire Marshal John Dean said there was no single initiative that could be credited for the lower number of fire deaths. He credited stronger building codes, local fire departments’ fire prevention efforts – and smoke detectors.

“That simple inexpensive device has saved an incredible number of lives in recent decades,” McCausland said.

On the highways, 2007 was an average year for fatalities, McCausland said.

The unofficial tally at year’s end was 184. The record low was 166 in 1982; the largest number of highway death was 276 recorded in 1970, McCausland.

AP-ES-01-01-08 1031EST