MEXICO – Five people from Mexico and two from Rockland were arrested on felony charges in a drug sweep Thursday night and early Friday morning in Mexico and Peru.
Four were arrested by Maine Drug Enforcement Agent Tony Milligan when the Isuzu Rodeo sport-utility vehicle they were in was stopped on Route 108 in Peru after an alleged cocaine transaction in Mexico, according to a statement by Mexico police Friday.
They are: John Ellis, 38, and Bryan Worthley, 32, both of Mexico; and Deborah Landre, 34, and Brittany Taylor, 23, both of Rockland.
Charges were:
• Ellis, aggravated trafficking in and furnishing of cocaine.
• Worthley, cocaine trafficking and furnishing, failure to pay fines on a Rumford District Court warrant for convictions of operating under the influence and operating after license suspension, and violating conditions of release stemming from being free on bail from Franklin County on a pending drug charge.
• Landre, cocaine trafficking and furnishing, and failure to appear on a Rockland District Court warrant.
• Taylor, the SUV driver, cocaine trafficking and furnishing, operating after license suspension, and violation of conditions of release while free on bail after being charged with operating under the influence charge.
All four were taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris, where they remained late Saturday.
Also arrested after 2 a.m. Friday at home after execution of search warrants were Mexico residents Aaron Billings, 32, of Ledgeview Avenue; and Rodney Canwell, 52, and his son, Ian Canwell, 19, both of Orchard Street.
Billings was charged with aggravated trafficking in and furnishing of cocaine, aggravated furnishing of marijuana, and unlawful possession of Hydrocodone, a prescription narcotic, according to the statement.
Rodney Canwell was charged with aggravated trafficking of cocaine and possession of firearms by a prohibited person. Ian Canwell was charged with aggravated furnishing of marijuana.
Billings and Rodney Canwell were each released on $10,000 surety bail, while Ian Canwell was released on $600 unsecured bail. Under bail conditions, they are not to possess or use illegal drugs or dangerous weapons, and they are subject to random search and drug testing.
They are to be arraigned on Jan. 3 in Rumford District Court.
Charges were considered as aggravated against Ellis because he has been convicted previously of cocaine trafficking; against Billings for previous convictions for cocaine and marijuana trafficking; against Rodney Canwell for previous felony cocaine trafficking and furnishing convictions; and Ian Canwell for having firearms in proximity.
Dates and places of previous convictions were not listed in the police statement and could not be obtained from police.
According to the statement, officers from Mexico, Rumford, Oxford County and the drug enforcement agency, asnd a Maine State Police trooper, conducted surveillance at several locations to monitor movements of suspected cocaine abusers.
Seized in the SUV search were nearly 14 grams of cocaine, digital drug scales and paraphernalia associated with the making of crack cocaine, and other evidence, the statement read. Seized at the Canwell home were several firearms, many packaged quantities of cocaine exceeding 14 grams, more than 35 grams of marijuana, currency, scales and other related evidence. The Billings home yielded more than 35 grams of marijuana, according to the statement.
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