WATERVILLE — State drug enforcement agents have brought additional charges against a Thomaston man after finding a pound of the drug “bath salts” in a Jeep Wrangler that Waterville police had impounded Nov. 19.
The man, Travis L. Griffin, 26, was charged Tuesday with felony trafficking in synthetic hallucinogenic drugs, or bath salts. He was charged at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset where he is being held on the previous bath salts arrest Nov. 19 in Waterville and for a probation violation.
The drugs found in the Jeep in Waterville were hidden inside a game console in the passenger compartment.
Maine drug enforcement agents seized 2 1/2 pounds of bath salts linked to Griffin in the past week from search warrants for the Jeep in Waterville and at Griffin’s family’s vacant home in Thomaston, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.
Griffin had been a passenger in the Jeep when Waterville police stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation just before Thanksgiving. Police found 4 ounces of the drug at the time.
Griffin and two others, Merideth K. Finley, 27, of Rockland and Paul A. Mahonen Jr., 34, of South Thomaston, were charged after the November traffic stop. Finley and Mahonen could now face additional charges, McCausland said Wednesday.
Drug agents said the contraband was destined to be sold in Knox County. McCausland said the 2 1/2 pounds of the drug has a street value of $170,000.
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor James Pease said Griffin was part of a major distribution ring of bath salts in Knox County.
In addition to Thomaston Police, which assisted in the search of Griffin’s house, drug agents also were assisted by the sheriff’s offices in Knox and Lincoln counties and by Waterville and Rockland police.
Pease said additional arrests are expected as the investigation continues.
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