Cops unearth drug stash in Hamilton woods

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January 15, 2008

Bruno Matarazzo The Salem News Tue Jan 15, 2008, 11:07 AM EST

SALEM — Two Wakefield roommates with connections to the North Shore were arraigned yesterday following a "substantial seizure" of crystal methamphetamine from their apartment and from a hiding place in the woods of Hamilton.

Marshall Lane, 26, and Maggie Bailey, 26, were arrested Friday shortly after undercover detectives from Salem and the Southern Middlesex Regional Drug Task Force bought a quarter-pound of crystal meth outside their apartment at 272 Albion St., police said.

Police searched their apartment and found a little more than 2 ounces of crystal meth, a few pills and approximately 10 grams of cocaine. Police soon learned of a second stash buried in the woods behind Lane's mother's home in Hamilton in the Christian community of Asbury Grove, said Woburn police Lt. Bob Rufo, commanding officer of the drug task force.

With the help of a drug-sniffing police dog from the Essex County Sheriff's Department, police found 98 grams of pure crystal meth and 154 grams of black-tar heroin hidden inside a hole in the woods.

In total, including the meth from the drug buys, police seized about 9.5 ounces of crystal meth | valued between $11,000 and $14,500. In addition, police found about $10,000 worth of heroin and $1,000 worth of cocaine. The discovery marks one of the largest quantities of the drug found by police in the area.

"For us to see in this amount now, it's very much a concern for us," said Salem police Capt. Paul Tucker, head of the criminal investigation division.

The addictive stimulant, more prevalent on the West Coast, has been slowly creeping eastward, bringing with it the devastating effects the drug has on users, families and the community, according to law enforcement officials.

To create the drug in homemade "meth labs," toxic, often highly volatile chemicals are used, subjecting a neighborhood to the risk of explosion. At a minimum, when meth labs are uncovered, police typically must employ a hazardous materials team to conduct an extensive cleanup of the site.

In Friday's bust, however, police said no drug lab was found inside the Wakefield apartment.

Fortunately, Rufo said, the pair had a hard time pushing the drug locally.

"Talking with Maggie, she said they were having a difficult time getting rid of it," Rufo said. "Even hard-core drug users are afraid of it."

The pair's North Shore connections appeared to have been little help, Tucker said. Though the pair, who Rufo said are not romantically linked, live in Wakefield, Bailey is from the Peabody/Danvers area and Lane is from Hamilton. The case took root in Salem.

Salem Detective Sgt. Stephen Bona said undercover officers first bought crystal meth from Bailey on Dec. 19 in a Salem parking lot.

The drug transaction allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant for her and a search warrant for her apartment.

Salem police then teamed up with Rufo.

"It was a great working relationship with the Salem guys and Southern Middlesex Drug Task Force," Rufo said. "It was really, a very smooth, cooperative investigative effort between everybody."

Tucker called the joint investigation "very successful."

Bailey and Lane were bailed out over the weekend and were arraigned yesterday at Malden District Court on multiple drug charges. Lane also faces weapon charges after police found a .22-caliber rifle, for which he is not licensed, in his room. Federal drug-trafficking charges against Lane are possible, Rufo said.

Lane was released on $500 plus bail fees, and Bailey was released on $100 plus bail fees.

Along with Tucker, Bona and Rufo, Salem Detectives Eric Connolly and Lt. Tom Griffin and Wakefield Detective Christopher Grace worked on the case.

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