CLINTON — Police seized drugs, firearms, dogs, cash and a stolen motorcycle Thursday during the search of a camper and property near the Sebasticook River off Main Street, where they also arrested the occupant.
Israel Carpenter, 47, was charged with three counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, Class A; three counts of violating conditions of release, Class C; unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, Class C; and violating conditions of release, Class E, according to Clinton police Chief Rusty Bell.
Israel Carpenter Courtesy of Clinton Police Department
Carpenter was wanted on five active warrants when the 5:40 a.m. search was conducted, Bell said. He also had had conditions of release placed on him for three felonies involving drug trafficking and one for a misdemeanor driving offense.
Carpenter was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta, where a jail spokesman said Friday that he is being held without bail.
The site where the camper was parked and where the search took place is known as “the campers by the river,” located off the Sebasticook River. It is on private property and accessible by an unpaved driveway whose entrance is off Main Street, about a mile south of downtown Clinton. The entrance to the driveway, which traverses a field, is across the road from 774 Main St.
Bell said other campers on the property, which is littered with all sorts of items, are now unoccupied. He said the landowners are planning to get the property cleaned up as soon as possible.
Because police had information that Carpenter was armed, the Maine State Police Tactical Team assisted with the search warrant, using a flashbang device to alert Carpenter police were outside the camper. After initially refusing to surrender, Carpenter was taken into custody without incident after nearly an hour.
Bell said a female came out of the camper first. She needed to be out of the situation there and was taken to safety, Bell said. Then Carpenter emerged, he said.
Clinton police seized drugs, firearms, dogs, cash and a stolen motorcycle Thursday during the search of a camper, right, and property near the Sebasticook River off Main Street, where they also arrested the occupant, 47-year-old Israel Carpenter, following what police said was a long investigation. Courtesy of Clinton Police Department
Police found 13.7 grams of methamphetamine and cocaine on Carpenter when they arrested him, which led to a second search warrant for the property itself, according to police. During the second search, police seized numerous edged weapons and firearms, the stolen 2004 Triumph motorcycle, 299.3 grams of methamphetamine, 48.8 grams of fentanyl, 11 hydrocodone pills, 16.5 grams of cocaine and alcohol in violation of Carpenter’s conditions of release.
Bell estimated the street value of the drugs to be between $30,000 and $40,000, depending on what would be done with them. He said the motorcycle had been stolen from Waterville in 2022.
Police also removed seven dogs from the property, including five puppies that Bell said would be taken Friday to the Humane Society Waterville Area shelter.
He described the search warrant as a major operation and said the investigation has been going on for a while.
“It’s been coming for months and months and months and the MDEA (Maine Drug Enforcement Agency) were involved and Maine State Police were heavily involved yesterday,” he said.
A post about the case on the Clinton Police Department Facebook page contains the following warning: “If you plan to traffic, manufacture or sell narcotics in Clinton, we will find you and we will arrest you.”
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