New Hampshire’s Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested In Maine

New Hampshire's most wanted fugitive of the week has been arrested during a traffic stop in Windham, Maine.

Maine State Police say a vehicle containing Michael Mendoza was stopped on Route 302 in Windham, as part of a joint investigation between the police and the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force. Mendoza, who was a passenger in the vehicle, has warrants in New Hampshire for Failure to appear (on an assault charge), Aggravated Eluding an Officer, Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident, Aggravated Driving to Endanger, and for a probation revocation stemming from an Unlawful Trafficking in Schedule W Drugs charge. His bail on the warrants was in excess of $10,000. He was on parole in New Hampshire at the time of his arrest.

A bag of narcotics was in plain view of police during the stop and so a search of the vehicle was conducted, with the help of a State Police K9. Additional narcotics were found on Brian Higgins, who was also a passenger in the vehicle. Numerous bags used to package narcotics for sale, along with a scale, were seized during that search. In total, 20 grams of Fentanyl, 6 grams of Cocaine HCL, Suboxone, and prescription pills were also located.

Higgins and Mendoza were arrested without incident and taken to the Cumberland County Jail. In addition to the warrants, Mendoza was charged with Aggravated Trafficking in Fentanyl and Aggravated Trafficking of Cocaine HCL. Higgins was charged with Aggravated Trafficking in Fentanyl and will also be indicted on one count of Unlawful Possession of a Schedule W  and Schedule Z Drugs. Bail was set at $50,000 each.

The trafficking charges were elevated to 'aggravated' because a 2-year-old child was in the vehicle at the time of the arrests.