Maine is becoming the poster child for failed leadership in the drug area. Maine is now being aggressively targeted by transnational organized crime (TOC). If leaders do not wake up, trends will accelerate. Effects are horrific, facts worth pondering.
One: All 16 of Maine’s counties are under siege from foreign traffickers, including Dominican, Mexican Sinaloa, Chinese fentanyl, and grow house operations, fresh offshoot traffickers (domestic and foreign), and recent appearances by MS-13 and Tren de Agua gangs.
Two: Drug types are proliferating, including high-potency synthetics (resistant to Naloxone), carfentanil (100 times more potent than fentanyl), fentanyl (50 times more potent than heroin), heroin (highest purity recorded), meth (newly resurgent in Portland), and crack-cocaine (kilo loads to north of the state).
Three: DTO methods are shifting, showing unprecedented confidence in hitting Maine, trafficking in all counties, local and state police forces are undermanned, underfunded, outgunned, and not given the support found in other New England states.
Four: DTOs travel Route 95 with near impunity, confidently fronting drugs to franchises more permanent than temporary. With drugs coming from north and south, America’s southern border is tighter, and Maine is poised to get hit harder.
Five: Anyone historically familiar with Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, Waterville, and other Maine cities knows the once safe, prosperous, productively occupied cities are suffering “big city” problems. Flow down crimes, personal and property, new diseases (including TB), homelessness, and fresh fears abound.
Six: Current drug policies in Maine are a textbook failure, elevated naloxone (20,000 units a month) and needle giveaways, adding to the pro-criminal outlook of Maine’s Democrat legislature – together producing record recidivism and addiction. Cashless bail, no consequences, unprosecuted cases, indifference to illegal aliens, and conviction reversals are a rolling disaster, visible to all.
Seven: Drug trafficking around the state is transforming formerly safe, prosperous, industrial, agricultural, and fishing towns into drug hubs, takedowns from Coast to Rumford, Farmington, Windam, Fairfield, Skowhegan, and a dozen points north. Local forces are overwhelmed, many just vanishing, burdens growing on the State.
Eight: Effective, habit-ending drug treatment options, done by residential centers like Hazelton and Betty Ford Clinic, do not exist for most in Maine, a mere 300 beds for 1.4 million people, the addiction industry flourishing, discarded needles everywhere, methadone, no endgame.
Nine: Lewiston is the poster child for failure. Unassimilated foreigners, mass drug trafficking, countless group homes, 192 shootings “from the start of 2019 to early July of this year, and a staggering 1,503 drug overdoses,” according to The Maine Wire, Lewiston is inner city Chicago writ small.
Trends are all in the wrong direction: ten shootings in 2019, jumping to 36 in 2024, more than half that in early 2025, 2019 overdoses at 113, 115 already in 2025.
Bottom line: Lewiston needs help, focus, dramatic federal and state support, a makeover based on real consequences, hard targets, more law enforcement resources, accountable and effective treatment, and realistic infrastructure. Ugly trends do not reverse themselves; they require leadership. Maine badly needs help.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
RBC – you have be stating this information on the state of affairs in your beautiful state of Maine for quite sometime now. One wonders if the message you keep talking about is resonating with the Maine voters (I sure pray so). One also wonders if the newspapers of Maine are pointing out these statistics you refer to or are the publishers so beholding to the democrats in office they are afraid to report on these issues. Wishing you good luck and prayers in your endeavor of being the next governor of Maine.
now thats SAD,sooo this is what happens when dems, see nothing,hear nothing,and see nothing. Gee do you suppose there getting rich by doing nothing. When will citizens have enough and VOTE.
As I mentioned before I have never been to Maine so can only offer some well-intentioned comment on the situations you describe Robert. In Philadelphia in 1966 the neighborhood where I grew up ,regarded by many as a nice neighborhood ,very low crime rate ,began to change – and not for the better . At age 16 was aware of. what was going on in the world in places other than Philadelphia. And the reason for things beginning to go downhill had to do in large part with the drug culture that started to influence the counter culture . So a cycle could be observed the drug culture influenced the music and then the music made the existence of the drug culture more acceptable. Big mistake by many with that way of thinking. Big time big mistake ! The whole country experienced that stuff in various ways depending on the circumstances. I thank God for being able to see that there was evil involved in the counter culture – drug culture and some people like some comedians saw opportunities to use the matter of drug use to be part of their comedy. Very wrong thing to do
Now these matters can be looked to in Maine as
lessons for doing things better and being aware of evil activities so that sort of crime can be fought in some ways. The 1970′ s meant developing ideas about conservative principles based in large part on the writing of William F Buckley Jr. and the weekly television program ” Firing Line ” . Besides being highly intelligent Bill Buckley had a keen sense of humor as well . The idea of taking a stand and having the quality of integrity to keep on the right course in life means a great deal.
The drug problem is what the Maine voters voted for. No federal taxes should be used to go against the voters.
Federal Taxpayer money should only be used to build a fence around Maine to keep the drug lovers inside Maine. The leftists support everything that normal decent people reject.
Entry from Canada
I really don’t care about Maine with their liberal politicians and judges. Let them sink into out of control drug and criminal activities. I don’t plan to ever visit Maine because its government is too corrupt.
There seems to be a link between scantuary states and drugs.
What exactly is a DTO? I do not see a definition of DTO anywhere in the article.
Maine: Such a Beautiful State, wild and pristine. Now a vast, drug riddled wasteland. Such a waste. We used to vacation there but I guess no more.
Keep voting Democrat!!!!
Maine has many real problems and it all stems to the Dem/socialists governing the state.
Well Maine, you can thank Obama for putting his terrorizing trouble makers in every city of the United States, it was well planned for an eventual take over.
Play stupid games win stupid prizes!!
nothing new in this
Hemorrhoids are WAY better than drug dependencies.
Let them have what they voted for. Conservatives have to make the hard choices not to help liberals until they come crawling, repentant and begging for help with the promise they will never vote for another Democrat.
Color me blue!