Jeremy Mercier arrested on drug charges in Maine- Restaurant employees in Auburn, Maine, were stunned when they realized a crate full of drugs had been shipped to their business.
On Friday, the large wooden crate was delivered to the restaurant. It had a return address that tracked to Arizona, Auburn police said.
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Jeremy Mercier arrested on drug charges in Maine
Employees at the restaurant were expecting a shipment of mugs and figured the crate was full of them. To their surprise, when they opened it, they located a plastic tote which had what employees believed was a large amount of illegal drugs. They were right. Auburn police said more than $3 million worth of fentanyl was inside the crate. This is about 14 kilos worth.
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More than $3 million worth of fentanyl was shipped to a restaurant in Auburn, Maine (Auburn Police Department)
Officers and detectives caught Jeremy Mercier at the restaurant looking for the shipment an hour after the delivery, authorities said. Mercier — 41 years old from Auburn — allegedly has no affiliation to the restaurant.
Police arrested him on multiple charges, including aggravated illegal importation of scheduled drugs, aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs and violation of conditional release.
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Jeremy Mercier (Auburn Police Department)
Mercier has a previous federal conviction for distributing cocaine in August 2007. He served several years in prison, but was out on pre-conviction bail.