A New Yorker who failed to appear in Maine for drug trafficking charges four years ago has been arrested. When he was taken into custody, he was in possession of thousands in cash and a fake I.D.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says agents have been tracking the whereabouts, for the past several weeks, of Alexander Mercado, age 32. of the Bronx. Mercado has been a fugitive since 2011 when he failed to appear on Class A Aggravated Trafficking in Schedule W drug charges. These charges involved the suspected distribution of Oxycontin in Penobscot and Hancock counties.

Early Tuesday evening, agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency's North Central Task Force office in Bangor arrested Mercado without incident. He was taken into custody after a car that he was a passenger in was stopped by Bangor Police, at MDEA's request. Seized from Mercado at the time of his arrest was more than $47,000 and false State of Maine identification issued to him using an assumed name.

Mercado made his initial court appearance today in Bangor. Bail on the warrant charging failure to appear to answer the drug trafficking charges was set at $300,000 with one surety or $100,000 cash. Bail on the forgery charge (for the fake ID) was set at $25,000 cash.

He remains in the Penobscot County Jail. This investigation is continuing and, as new information is developed, more arrests are likely.

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