Reece is Skowhegan’s new drug-sniffing police dog that completed training in December. Police say Reece was part of a drug arrest Friday. Photo courtesy of Skowhegan Police Department
SKOWHEGAN — Police arrested a Winslow man on drug trafficking charges Friday, aided by a new drug-sniffing police dog that completed training in December.
Benjamin Bourassa Photo courtesy of Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
Benjamin Bourassa, 40, was arrested Friday on a charge of aggravated trafficking in a scheduled drug after police found approximately 70 grams of cocaine in his vehicle during a traffic stop, police Chief David Bucknam said in a statement.
Officer Richard Pierce and Cpl. Joshua York stopped Bourassa’s pickup truck on Fairview Avenue around 2 p.m. Friday, according to Bucknam. York and the department’s police dog, Reece, conducted a “sniff” of the vehicle and the dog “positively indicated” the presence of illicit drugs, Bucknam said.
Police seized the cocaine, along with $1,500 in cash from suspected drug sales, a firearm, digital scales “caked in cocaine” and drug packaging materials, the statement said.
Bourassa was taken to Somerset County Jail in East Madison, where he is currently being held on cash bail set at $75,000, according to Bucknam.
The canine completed training and joined the force in December, Bucknam said previously.
The arrest was the second major drug arrest in a 24-hour period in the town of about 8,000. Following a separate traffic stop late Thursday night, police arrested a Skowhegan man they say was carrying thousands of dollars’ worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
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