Jake Merrill
OAK BLUFFS – On the afternoon of Friday, December 30th, 2022, an Oak Bluffs police detective was performing surveillance of two males who are known to police on Vineyard Avenue Extension. The detective suspected that the two males were about to meet and conduct a drug transaction based on an ongoing narcotics investigation.
While watching the males, who came from different directions on foot, the detective observed them meet and believed they were in the process of doing a drug deal. At this time the detective requested for more officers to the location to assist. Two additional officers responded and the men were detained.
As the detective began to search one of the males, identified as Jake Merrill, Merrill threw a small plastic baggie over his head into a nearby thick brush area. After a brief search officers located the baggie which contained a white powdered substance believed to be Fentanyl. The baggie was packaged in a manner consistent with distribution. Neither Merrill or the second male would make any statements related to their activities after being provided with their Miranda Warnings.
Mr. Merrill was placed under arrest for possession of Fentanyl with the intent to distribute. The second male was released from the scene. Merrill was transported to the Dukes County Jail where he was booked on the drug charge.
After Merrill was placed under arrest, Oak Bluffs Police applied for and were granted a search warrant from the Edgartown District Court for Merrill’s residence which is a short distance away from where the two males met.
Members of the Oak Bluffs Police Department and Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force executed the warrant later that evening. The search yielded more packaged white powdered substance believed to be Fentanyl, pills believed to be Gabapentin, along with digital scales and plastic baggies which are items consistent with drug distribution.
Merrill was arraigned today on the charge of Possession of a Class A Substance (Fentanyl) with the Intent to Distribute and Possession of a class E Substance (Gabapentin). His bail was set at $1,200.
All defendants are deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
