Nick Sambides Jr., Bangor Daily News Staff

LINCOLN, Maine – A Connecticut man being held at the Penobscot County Jail on drug trafficking charges late Wednesday might have created his own problem by calling 911 to report people trying to break into his apartment, police said.

Jason Gergler, 29, of Ivoryton, Conn., was charged Tuesday with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, a Class A felony, after police said they seized 200 small packets of heroin packaged for street sale, 121 oxycodone pills, cocaine, crack cocaine, 11 hypodermic needles and $590 in cash — items worth about $7,000 in total.

Police also found during their court-approved search a ledger with several names in it, possibly drug customers, Police Chief William Lawrence said.

As it is one of the largest drug seizures in recent town history, police have brought state police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency into the case for further investigation, Lawrence said. He declined to comment on the ledger’s contents or whether further arrests are expected.

The case began, Lawrence said, as a routine complaint, except that when Officer David Cram arrived at the Acorn Apartments complex at 26 Lee Road about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, complainant Jason Gergler’s manner led Cram to believe that Gergler was intoxicated, possibly on bath salts, Lawrence said.

“That was his first inclination,” Lawrence said of Cram, “but the suspect later admitted that he was on heroin. At the time, he [Gergler] said he wasn’t sure, but he thought that people were after him.”

When Gergler invited Cram into the apartment, Cram saw the ledger, a spoon and several pieces of burned foil which he suspected were drug paraphernalia and took Gergler into custody, Lawrence said.

The officer “was very aware of his surroundings and once he was aware of what was going on, he took the right course of action, and this is the net result,” Lawrence said.

Cram then applied for and received a search warrant. He and Sgt. Glenn Graef searched the apartment and found the drugs, Lawrence said.

Gergler rented the apartment himself and admitted during police questioning that he carried the drugs from Connecticut for sale in the Lincoln Lakes region, Lawrence said.

Gergler was being held on $10,000 cash bail at the jail late Wednesday after an appearance at the Penobscot Judicial Center. He is due in court on Dec. 12, a jail spokesman said.

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