Former Manchester Resident Gets Nine Years For Drug Importing

MANCHESTER, CT - A distributor of the psychoactive drug "molly' has been sentenced to the better part of a decade in prison.

Deirdre Daly, the United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Monday that Waheen Islam, 48, AHEED ISLAM, 48, formerly of Ansonia and Manchester, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer in New Haven to 108 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for importing and distributing the “Molly,” drug and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

Waheed goes by the street name of “Max Paine,” Daly said.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in May 2014, the Ansonia Police Department received information that Islam was living in Ansonia and was making and distributing the drug.

Molly is a street name for methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, Daly said.

In July 2014, a U.S. Postal Inspector reported to Ansonia Police that Islam had been receiving packages from China that were labeled as containing “rock sugar,” Daly said.

On Aug. 8, 2014, a package that had originated in China and was addressed to Islam's post office box in Ansonia was intercepted at JFK International Airport in New York, Daly said.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents opened the package and found it to contain approximately one pound of ethylone, a "Schedule I" controlled substance that is a stimulant closely related to MDMA and other drugs, Daly said.

A second package originating from China had been delivered to the Ansonia branch of the U.S. Post Office and was awaiting delivery to Islam and on Aug. 11, 2014, agents opened the second package and found approximately 1.1 pounds of the same substance, Daly said

Islam was arrested on Aug. 12, 2014, after he arrived at the post office in Ansonia to pick up the package, Daly said.

On August 15, 2014, another package destined for Islam was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and a search of the package revealed approximately 2.3 pounds of ethylone, Daly said.

ISLAM has been detained since his arrest, Daly said.

On March 3, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States, Daly said.

Islam's criminal history includes multiple felony crimes of violence, including first-degree assault and first-degree robbery, Daly said.

On May 6, 2011, he was sentenced in Hartford federal court to 18 months of imprisonment for illegally purchasing and possessing body armor.

He was on supervised release at the time of the drug incidents, Daly said.