The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said July 1 that it seized more than two pounds of heroin, in what is believed to be Maine’s largest seizure of the drug, according to a news release from the Maine Office of Public Safety. Under arrest is a Connecticut man, and which ends a three-month investigation by MDEA’s Aroostook County Task Force into heroin trafficking in Aroostook County.

The heroin was packaged into more than 10,000 individual bags , with a street value of $450,000.  

During the investigation, which involved the undercover purchase of heroin, investigators determined that James Jamison, 33, of Waterbury, Conn., had allegedly been supplying individuals in Aroostook County with substantial quantities of heroin for resale in Northern Maine, the release said.

Earlier on July 1, agents intercepted Jamison in South Portland. As agents attempted to take him into custody in a parking lot off the Maine Mall Road in South Portland near the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, Jamison’s car rammed a MDEA vehicle containing drug agents and fled the area toward Scarborough on Maine Mall Road, the release said. South Portland Police attempted to stop Jamison, but he refused and fled the scene. There was no pursuit by law enforcement, the release said.

After, Jamison was involved in a multi-vehicle crash on Payne Road at Cummings Road in Scarborough. Jamison then fled that crash site on foot. 

After a search by law enforcement of the area, Jamison was taken into custody inside a Scarborough hotel near where he had crashed his car into a delivery truck. Assisting in the search for Jamison was the South Portland and Scarborough police departments and Maine State Police.

The three MDEA agents, who were in the vehicle Jamison rammed, suffered minor injuries and have been treated and released from Maine Medical Center. Agents said Jamison put his car into reverse and rammed the van the agents were in at a high rate of speed.

Jamison was transported to the Cumberland County Jail and has been charged  so far with the following crimes as the result of agents attempting to take him into custody:

1.   Reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon- Class C Felony

2.   Aggravated assault- Class B Felony

3.   Eluding a police officer- Class C Felony

4.   Driving to Endanger- Class C Felony

5.   Leaving the scene of a personal injury crash- Class D Bail was set on the above charges at $100,000 cash

Class “A” Aggravated Trafficking in Heroin charges also will be lodged against him by the Aroostook County District Attorney.  Jamison will be in Portland court on Tuesday.

Assisting MDEA in the drug investigation was the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Fairfield Police and the Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force.