What began last week as a shoplifting complaint in Belmont resulted in a drug arrest yesterday, and a dirty tissue may be used to prosecute the alleged offender.

Tony Hartford, 22, of 13 Loon Pond Road in Gilmanton was arrested for possession of a controlled drug and was being held in jail on $5,000 bail, said Belmont Detective Judy Estes. Estes obtained a search warrant to swab cells from inside Hartford's cheek that will be DNA tested to link him to tissues he allegedly threw away. The tissues were later found to be wrapped around tablets of Methadose, a brand of the drug methadone, which is illegal without a prescription.

Estes was called to Shaw's in the Belknap Plaza on Route 3 the morning of Feb. 7 because an employee suspected Hartford of shoplifting, according to court papers.

The employee told the officer that while they were waiting for her in the manager's office, Hartford put his fingers inside his sneaker several times, then blew his nose. As Hartford blew his nose, the employee saw several white tablets in Hartford's hand. But after he threw the tissue away, the pills were gone, the employee said.

Another large white tablet fell on the floor near Hartford's feet and he pushed it under a desk, the employee said, but the employee picked it up. It had "Methadose 40"printed on it, according to court papers. Hartford said the pill wasn't his.

After Hartford left, Estes pulled the two tissues out of the wastepaper basket, according to court papers. One contained five more Methadose tablets dissolving in mucus.

About three hours later, an upset Hartford called Estes and told her he had lied and the pills were his, but he didn't have a prescription, court papers said. He said he was addicted to the painkiller OxyContin and a family member was giving him Methadose to control his withdrawal symptoms. He said he was trying to break his addiction on his own because he couldn't afford rehab and his doctor didn't understand him.

Methadone is an opiate, like heroin and the prescription oxycodone, the generic name for OxyContin. But unlike heroin or oxycodone when it's used incorrectly, methadone does not produce a high. It is frequently used as a prescription to treat heroin addiction, and it can treat oxycodone addiction as well, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The cells swabbed from Hartford's cheek will be sent to the state crime lab to be analyzed. If they are found to match the DNA on the tissues, they could be used as evidence when Hartford's case goes to trial.

Hartford is scheduled to be arraigned on March 16, Estes said.

(Elizabeth Walters can be reached at 224-5301, ext. 317, or by e-mail at ewalters@cmonitor.com.)

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By ELIZABETH WALTERS

Monitor staff