AUGUSTA and HOULTON, Maine — The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency has named Darrell Crandall, recently retired Aroostook County sheriff, as the MDEA northern commander.
Crandall assumed the position during a swearing-in ceremony March 7 at the Maine Department of Public Safety offices in Augusta.
MDEA Director Roy McKinney said Crandall is one of Maine’s most experienced drug investigators and will now oversee MDEA agents in the northern half of the state.
According to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland, Crandall previously served 24 years with MDEA, first as a drug agent, then as a supervisor and next as northern commander. He was commander until 2013, when he left the drug agency to rejoin the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
He was elected sheriff in 2014, serving until his retirement last month.
At the MDEA, he succeeds Peter Arno, who recently retired from law enforcement after a career with the Bangor Police Department and the drug agency.
Crandall’s chief deputy at the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, Shawn Gillen, another MDEA veteran, will serve as acting sheriff until Gov. Paul LePage appoints a permanent replacement.
