Four men accused of being part of a New York-based crime ring were arrested in Auburn on federal charges after a drug investigation in Vermont uncovered a fake credit card scheme in Maine.

The Maine case began after investigators in Vermont, recording phone calls through a court-ordered wire tap, intercepted calls between New York men involved in an alleged drug ring there and New York men in Maine who were involved in the credit card scheme, according to documents unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Starting in December, the investigators overheard calls of the men coordinating to buy a credit card manufacturing machine online and then buy stolen credit card numbers for $2,400 from a supplier in Ukraine, according to an affidavit filed by Kelley Erskine, an agent for the U.S. Secret Service.

Federal authorities in Maine obtained arrest warrants Tuesday for two men accused of the fake credit card scheme, Shaun Wray and Guy Noel, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.

When they went to search an apartment in Auburn, they arrested Wray and Noel, and found two other New York men who were wanted on federal drug and money laundering charges in Vermont, court records in Maine state.

The two men wanted in Vermont, Gary Delima, 26, of Long Island, New York, and Sharif Cargo, 25, of New York City, were charged with conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine.

Federal court records in Vermont and Maine indicate many other people have been indicted in Vermont on drug, gun and related charges but have yet to be arrested.

Delima and Cargo were brought to federal court in Portland on Tuesday and ordered held pending their transfer back to Vermont.

Wray and Noel were brought to court Wednesday to make their initial appearances, each on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture or possess a fraudulent access device.

Magistrate Judge John Rich III ordered Wray and Noel held pending detention hearings next week.

Court records indicate Wray and Noel bought the credit card machine, called a tipper, on eBay for less than $400 sometime after Feb. 27 and then bought stolen credit card data from a Ukrainian dealer on March 5.

Federal authorities allege that members of the ring subsequently used or tried to use the fake credit cards in stores or banks in Lewiston, South Portland, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

If convicted, Wray and Noel will face up to five years in federal prison.

If Delima and Cargo are convicted of the drug charges against them, they each will face five to 40 years in federal prison and a fine for as much as $5 million.