ROCKLAND – The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Rockland police have seized more than $125,000 cash and a Toyota pickup truck from a 25-year-old Rockland man who has allegedly been trafficking in oxycodone around the Midcoast since 2013.

Ashley J. Hunt was arrested Jan. 23 and charged with trafficking in oxycodone. He was released on bail and his initial court appearance is scheduled for sometime March.

The affidavit filed by the MDEA in Rockland District Court states that Hunt used his drug trafficking earnings to support a “lavish lifestyle.”

The MDEA’s investigation began in 2013, when court documents said they learned that Hunt was dealing hundreds of oxycodone 30-milligram pills per month throughout the Midcoast area for the past several years. After further investigation, an informant stated that Hunt was his primary supplier of oxycodone and his drug trafficking allegedly allowed him to buy the pickup truck, a motorcycle, snowmobile and a large amount of money.

As part of the investigation, Hunt was placed under surveillance and was observed conducting a suspected drug deal at the Rockland waterfront. MDEA agents followed an individual who allegedly received the drugs from Hunt, and stopped him in his vehicle at a business in Thomaston.

According to the court document, the man stated that he had met with Hunt to allegedly purchase oxycodone from him. He turned over to agents four 30-milligram oxycodone pills that he said he purchased from Hunt. Also according to the document, MDEA agents then asked the man to call Hunt to meet again and purchase more oxycodone, a transaction that ultimately involved another exchange in Thomaston.

When apprehended, Hunt allegedly admitted to police that he had been selling the drugs on a regular basis for the past three years.

While executing a search warrant at a bank where Hunt rented a safety deposit box, agents allegedly found and seized 57 $100 U.S. savings bonds, $22,900 in cash, a bank check for $52,286, a bank check for $57,349.06, assorted coins, antique money and jewelry.

MDEA agents also searched Hunt’s residence on Park Street in Rockland, where he lived with his grandmother, according to court documents. There, they allegedly discovered several loaded handguns and also seized Hunt’s truck for allegedly being used during a drug transaction.

The investigation was lead by MDEA agent Scott Quintero, with assistance from the Rockland and Thomaston police departments.

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com