SKOWHEGAN — A local man is facing charges after police allege they found large quantities of drugs worth thousands of dollars in his vehicle following a traffic stop Thursday night.
Jason Cole Photo courtesy of Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
Jason Cole, 45, of Skowhegan, was arrested on charges of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, unlawfully furnishing scheduled drugs and operating after revocation, according to David Bucknam, Skowhegan’s police chief.
Inside Cole’s vehicle, police found 59.2 grams of fentanyl, 7.7 grams of methamphetamine, about $3,700 in suspected drug proceeds, a methamphetamine pipe with residue, narcotic packaging material and a digital scale, Bucknam said in a statement. The police chief estimated the street value of the drugs was about $7,500, in addition to the seized cash.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says about 2 milligrams of fentanyl is a potentially lethal dose, so the amount seized by police contained more than 29,000 lethal doses.
Around 10 p.m. Thursday, officer Alex Burns and Sgt. Katlyn Nichols of the Skowhegan Police Department stopped Cole’s pickup truck on North Avenue and discovered that his license was revoked with three prior revocations, Bucknam said.
The officers arrested Cole on that violation and then carried out a search of his vehicle before impounding it, according to Bucknam. That search yielded the drugs, cash and other suspected drug-related items.
Police brought Cole to the Somerset County Jail in East Madison, where he was being held on cash bail set at $50,000, according to Bucknam.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency is assisting in the investigation, Bucknam said.
The classifications and associated punishments for each of the charges vary depending on the circumstances, according to state statutes. Bucknam did not specify how Cole will be charged.
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