Police said $60,000 worth of methamphetamine and cocaine were seized Thursday night during a traffic stop in Topsham. Justin Smith of Lewiston, Danielle McBreairty of Glenburn and Thomas Hammond of Fairfield were arrested in the case. Maine State Police photo
TOPSHAM – A Lewiston man was one of three people arrested Thursday after a monthslong investigation led police to $60,000 worth of methamphetamine and cocaine.
The trio was arrested after police and drug agents followed a truck to the parking lot at the Topsham Fair Mall.
Justin Smith, 31, of Lewiston was arrested on a charge of possessing meth. Danielle McBreairty, 29, of Glenburn, was arrested and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, and Thomas Hammond, 21, of Fort Fairfield, who was charged with possessing the drug.
For several months, agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Mid-Coast District Task Force have been investigating the distribution of crystal methamphetamine in the area. Police had been watching McBreairty, who would routinely travel out of state to purchase large amounts of the drug, according to a news release. She would return to Maine with multiple pounds and sell it along the mid-coast and in Penobscot and Aroostook counties.
On Thursday, police said, agents spotted McBreairty operating her GMC pickup north in Brunswick and followed it to the Topsham Fair Mall where, with the help of Topsham police, they stopped the vehicle.
McBreairty and her two passengers, Hammond and Smith, were arrested after agents found methamphetamine and a loaded handgun in the truck. Also found in the vehicle, police said, was a locked backpack belonging to McBreairty. After obtaining a search warrant, police found more than four pounds of crystal methamphetamine and a pound of cocaine inside the backpack, according to the news release.
The street value of the seized drugs is estimated at $60,000. The three were transported to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset where they remained Friday.
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