4 arrested in Dover drug sweep

DOVER — Police arrested four city residents on drug-related charges Tuesday as part of a Operation Granite Shield sweep.

The operation included Dover police, Strafford County Sheriff’s Office, University of New Hampshire Police and the Rowley, Massachusetts, police, according to Dover police Sgt. Mark Nadeau of the department’s Special Investigations Unit.

Police charged Marc Martin, 42, of 26 Addison Place, with felony possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute. Nadeau said Martin was arrested with about 40 grams of what was believed to be fentanyl.

“The quantity he had in his possession was indicative of” someone who planned to distribute the drug, Nadeau said Wednesday. “Forty grams in weight is not indicative of being for personal use,” he added.

Cassandra Nickerson, 31, of 35 Polly Ann Mobile Home Park, was charged with felony possession of a controlled drug. She had about a gram of fentanyl in her possession when she was arrested, Nadeau said.

Casey Dyer, 40, and Debra Leavitt, 40, both of 50 New Rochester Road, each face a fugitive from justice charge stemming from felony warrants obtained by Rowley police for possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute.

Dyer and Leavitt were held at the Strafford County jail and were arraigned Wednesday in the 7th Circuit Court, District Division in Dover, Nadeau said.

Martin and Nickerson were released on personal recognizance bail and are scheduled to appear in the Strafford County Superior Court Jan. 30 for arraignment.

The arrests resulted from the work done by “plainclothes investigators who monitored certain areas where we got complaints of drug activity,” Nadeau said.

Police stopped and arrested Martin while he was driving his vehicle on Knox Marsh Road and Nickerson was a passenger in the vehicle, Nadeau said.

He noted it’s “fair to say the quantity (of drugs) Mr. Martin was possessing took these illegal drugs out of the hands of dozens of users he was likely to sell to that night,” Nadeau said.

The investigation that led to the arrests was “part of the overall plan to stop and intercept drug sales” in Dover, Nadeau said. “It’s an important focus of the department and the state."

Funding for this operation was provided by the state’s Operation Granite Shield grant.

The grant money, Nadeau explained, allows departments to “put more officers on the road to help combat the opiate epidemic. Local investigators from all over work together to address all these issues."

Dover police ask anyone with drug-related crime information to call the department at (603) 742‐4646. Anonymous tips may be reported to Dover Crimeline at (603) 749‐6000 or via dovernhcrimeline.org.