BANGOR, Maine » Maine authorities have seized an estimated $1.2 million worth of the synthetic drug bath salts in Penobscot County that had been imported from China.

Penobscot County sheriff’s deputies and state drug agents say they worked with Texas authorities in the investigation, which led to the seizure of 18 pounds of the drug.

The Portland Press Herald reports that four people were arrested at a house in Hermon in Jan. 18.

Fifty-three-year-old Leonard Wells of Hermon, 29-year-old Steven Warren of Corinth, and 31-year-old Elizabeth Fuentes and 49-year-old Arthur Coy of Houston have been charged with aggravated trafficking in synthetic hallucinogens.

Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross said today that Bangor was one of the first areas of the state to face what he now calls an epidemic.