MEXICO — The arrests of a Jay man and a Mexico man on Dec. 3 in Mexico was the result of a 10-month investigation into cocaine trafficking in the River Valley area.
State cases against the two will be presented to the Oxford County grand jury on Friday, Dec. 17, in Paris.
In one of two separate traffic stops near midnight on Dec. 3 on Route 2, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agent Tony Milligan arrested Dale Alan Korhonen, 41, of 165 Keep Road in Jay, on two felony counts of aggravated cocaine trafficking, two counts of violating bail conditions, and carrying concealed weapons, MDEA agents supervisor Gerry Baril said on Thursday afternoon in Lewiston.
In the second stop, Milligan arrested Timothy Clark, 40, of 16 Angie Lane in Mexico on a felony charge of attempted cocaine trafficking.
Baril said Clark was released on $8,000 recognizance bail, but Korhonen was taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris where he was later arraigned and released on $20,000 real estate bail.
The trafficking charges against Korhonen were elevated to aggravated because Baril said Korhonen sold cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school in the greater Rumford and Mexico area.
Baril said the concealed weapons Korhonen had were a collapsible metal baton like police officers use, a knife and a Taser stun gun. He was also free on bail awaiting trial in Androscoggin County on a traffic offense.
On Sept. 28, Maine State Police Trooper Jason Wing arrested Korhonen in Auburn on a charge of driving without a license.
At the time, Korhonen listed a Hancock Street address in Rumford, which Baril said turned out to be false, prompting one of the bail violation counts. The other count, he said, is for engaging in new criminal conduct.
Baril said surveillance on Clark and Korhonen began in mid-January 2010 during an investigation by the MDEA, state police, and Jay, Mexico and Rumford police.
On Dec. 3, Milligan got arrest warrants for Korhonen and Clark from Oxford County Superior Court in Paris and officers went to Korhonen’s address at 101 Hancock St. However, Baril said Korhonen no longer lived there.
“He had a safe there that he kept $3,600 cash in that we seized, but he was living on Keep Road in Jay,” Baril said.
A search warrant was obtained for the Jay residence and executed.
When the pair was arrested, Baril said Korhonen had a gram of cocaine with him, but Clark had none.
Despite the two arrests, Baril said the investigation is continuing. He declined to elaborate.
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