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Police: Man was selling fentanyl near elementary school

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Drugs, money and guns recovered by police at an apartment in Berwick and Benjamin Rand, arrested on drug charges. (Police photos)

BERWICK - A Berwick man suspected of selling fentanyl in Rochester and other local towns has been arrested, culminating a four-month investigations by local and state police.

Benjamin Rand, 20, of School Street, was charged with aggravated trafficking of schedule "W" drugs.

Police say Rand was supplying fentanyl to area customers from his apartment which is within one thousand feet of the Knowlton School in Berwick.

Berwick Police took Rand into custody as he returned to Maine from Lawrence, Mass., with more than 20 grams of fentanyl, arresting him on the Class A felony warrant that could land him in state prison for up to 20 years.

Rand drove to Lawrence, Massachusetts every other day to purchase fentanyl, police say. Once he returned to Berwick he would repackage the narcotics for resale in the Berwick/Somersworth/Rochester areas.

Rand was transported to the York County Jail where he is being held on $50,000 cash bail. He will be arraigned today in Springvale District Court.

Immediately after the arrest the Berwick Police Department executed a search warrant at his apartment on School Street where they found one of Rand's customers waiting to purchase narcotics. The customer was interviewed and later released.

Investigators located numerous firearms at the residence. Rand had $1,700 in cash on him at the time of the arrest.

Berwick Police Detective Ron Lund stated, "We have been receiving information regarding Rand supplying fentanyl to the Berwick/Somersworth/Rochester areas for the past four months. Due to our great relationship with our partner law enforcement agencies, we were able to conduct interviews, surveillance, traffic stops and undercover purchases."

Information regarding Rand's source of narcotics in Lawrence, Mass., has been forwarded to the local Drug Enforcement Agency. Berwick Police obtained valuable information through cell phone records which, will result in future arrests.

Berwick Police Chief Timothy Towne said, "This investigation has been our agency's primary focus over the past few months. Rand was very casually selling fentanyl within eyesight of to the Knowlton School, which educates our fourth- and fifth-graders. We will continue to pursue any information regarding drug activity within our community. It is sad to think that School Resource Officer Milton Fogg is teaching Drug Abuse Resistance Education to the students at the Knowlton School and only a few hundred yards away, someone is dealing fentanyl. It is another reminder of the magnitude of this issue. Once again though, it was a tremendous team effort that resulted in the arrest of another source of it from the community."

The Berwick Police Department was assisted by the Maine State Police (Troop A), New Hampshire State Police (Troop A), Somersworth Police Department and the Rochester Police Department.

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