FARMINGTON – Calling it “probably the biggest drug bust in Franklin County,” Sheriff Scott Nichols stood before a table laden with stacks of cash totaling $144,008, hundreds of pills, two pounds of marijuana, guns and ammunition.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the State Police executed a search warrant at a home at 148 Avon Valley Road on Friday.
Daryl “Poochie” Searles, 56, was arrested at the home and charged with Class A aggravated trafficking of Schedule W drugs, namely oxycodone and hydrocodone and Class C unlawful trafficking in Schedule Z drugs, namely marijuana.
A lifelong resident of the area, Searles, who has one non-drug related misdemeanor conviction on his record, may be facing additional charges after the case goes to the grand jury, Nichols said.
Confiscated at the home where Searles resided were stacks of cash totaling $144,008, 442 pills that included oxycodone and hydrocodone together equaling 9,252 milligrams. The pills, which police said were not prescribed to Searles, were allegedly selling at prices ranging from $10 to $60 a piece in this area. At those prices, Nichols said the pill stash seized could have potentially brought in $18,555.
The 2.1 pounds of harvested marijuana police said they also found was valued at $4,000. Seven guns and a box of ammunition were also seized by police.
“This is a substantial find for us,” Nichols said. “Pills, always a problem in Franklin County. This is a big deal for us.”
Months ago, the sheriff’s department “obtained information” about possible illegal drug activity going on at the residence. Enough leads were developed over time that a search warrant of the residence was granted late last week.
On Friday, law enforcement officers arrived at the Avon Valley Road residence and knocked on the door. Searles was asked to come outside and he did so peacefully, Nichols said.
Looking at the table of drugs, cash and guns, Nichols noted it was “probably the biggest drug bust in Franklin County,” and he added of the illegal drugs, “It destroys so many lives and it’s becoming more and more of a problem here.”
Searles first court appearance is scheduled for June 3. He was released from the Franklin County Detention Center on Saturday after posting $2,000 cash bail.
Nice job guys, really nice job.
Great job!
I always wondered what happens to that money? It sure would be nice to put that money into a new park for our kids or to better the appearance of our town with flowers, sidewalks, etc. Can anyone answer what happens to the money?
Let’s look at the problem where it starts: DOCTORS! IF doctors weren’t prescribing these drugs to ANYONE that asks for them, they wouldn’t be on the streets to begin with!!! Let’s trace these to where they came from FIRST, because THAT is where the problem lies! NEXT let’s go to the people HE was buying them from. People who, for the most part are getting them for free at OUR expense! And then turning around and selling them for a huge profit. Mr. Searles is the third step in this. It would be nice to think that this bust would solve some sort of problem, but unless you go after the source it won’t. The people selling their prescriptions will find someone else to sell to. STOP it at the source, before they even hit the street!
Say it ain’t so Pooch. We are all so shocked… “sigh”
Jim..you are right. It needs to start with the doctor prescribing so many. But this article says none of them were prescribed to poochie. Where did he get them? Most likely they were stolen but that’s just my opinion. This is a good start on getting some of the pill pushers off the street. 144,000 bucks?? OMG..I wonder where this money goes? I would hope they would split it up towards the food bank and yes some for the town for the kids,,,,it was found in franklin county franklin county should get the money for a good cause. Just saying.
Its sad that so many people fake their pain being so bad so they can have those meds, unfortunately it hurts the people that could really use them, such as the elderly. Those people need to resort to other forms of pain management, other than drugs and you won’t see as much of this. Hospice gives out too many pills at one time for pain ( end of life, comfort care), a weeks worth at a time is plenty. It is always something.
Well said Jim.
Finally! Keep up the good work , he isn’t the only one~
Jim, I said the same exact thing to my sister in law. Who’s name is on the Rx bottles? In the age of computers, the distribution of this from the doctors needs to be controlled. They know the ‘seekers’.
Great police work Sheriff Nichols, Detective Steve Charles, Maine Drug Enforcement, and the officers involved. Thanks for making our communities safer.
Must have been tough posting the $2,000.00 cash bail…
Great job on finally proving what is common knowledge. Please get the rest of them and trace the suppliers. Thank you.
Thank you to all law enforcement officers and agencies involved! Keep up the great work!
Is it illegal to own guns and ammunition now? What did I miss? Apparently he is not yet a convicted felon.
And then there are the guns…..
Drugs and guns. Lethal combination.
I was thinking, if there are names on the bottles of those pills. Stolen or not, wouldn’t that be addressed? We probably won’t ever know where the money gets distributed to. Kept for “evidence” for awhile I would imagine anyway.
The sad part of this one is that a 56 year old man that grew up in the Western Mountainn of Maine, would allow this to happen and use the almighty dollar to his advantage buy allowing this to happen in his own back yard. The very way that young and innocent kids get hooked on drugs in the first place. You are absoulty right that to many Medical Professionals, have chosen the easy road to financial success by dolling out prescription drugs to anyone that thinks they need them. The problem is that this Country hasen’t got the gonads to put a stop to it. Poochie, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Thank you for doing a great job, Franklin County Sheriffs’ officers!
No victim, no crime. Produce the injured party. Not guilty!
Thanks
For Leach to say no foul here is not surprising..
Leaches are slimy and sluggish.
Denial does not change the facts.
Throw away the key..
I agree with Jim & Heidi. GREAT JOB TO ALL INVOLVED. Track down the names on the pill boxes.
Question the doctors for handing out the scripts to people who clearly dont need them. Just certified drug dealers. It would be easy to mandate pill counts, Limit prescription ammounts or simply say suck it up. I think weve all seen the result of drug abuse yet nothing to correct it. And these clinics that give people drugs to get them off of drugs. Seriously tho…THATS A THING
Well said Jim now if the Doctors who hand these out would only get held responsibile so sad for everyone as a Mother of a drug abuser and know several these pills cause more pain to the parents, siblings ,innocent children, and friends suffer the worse kind of pain that no stupid pill takes away they have to live with it. Whats wrong with this world.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Pills__guns___100_000_seized_from_Maine_home.html
Herald article states the police think pooch was working alone………….as other comments on here have said…..not a chance, you haven’t chased this one to ground yet. You don’t need to look very far either….everyone up there “knows” for christs sake….
(Clearly, Clark is part of this problem…….. How sad for him and his family.)
Great work FCSD!!
NO MERCY for death dealers!
Alison Haines,
Hospice will only pay for two weeks at a time. I believe they do it that way to be optimistic for the patients! Have a little heart when it comes to the terminally ill. I see mostly Walmart rx bottles… Wow… track down the owners and see the real reason they are there. Might be stolen or maybe they shouldnt be getting them… The money should go to a childrens park of some type. But unfortunately it will be years more than likely before it would be usable.
Excellent Job Franklin County Sheriff and Local Police entities that may have helped in this bust!
Keep up the great work! And find some more “Bad Guys!”
I also so wonder… what does happen to all that money? To think that it could be put towards something positive is all too wonderful to think about. Yes, there will be doctors who will too easily hand out perscriptions. But, can you imagine having a YMCA in the area to give our community, especially our children, a safe, supportive place to go, grow and learn?….if we could just spend that money…
Great job!! This place is saturated with pills, makes me ill! Such a sad disease once it consumes ones mind. Keep up the awesome work, get that s**t off the streets!
I think the pharmaceutical companies making these drugs should offer free rehabilitation along with their addictive drugs!