AUGUSTA — A Farmingdale man and his girlfriend have been arrested on cocaine trafficking charges, Maine drug agents said Friday.

Juan Maldonado, 37, is charged with aggravated trafficking in cocaine, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Marie Poirier, 27, in trafficking cocaine.

Darrell Crandall, commander of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, said agents arrested the pair in Augusta on Thursday.

“We had been investigating them for a while,” Crandall said Friday.

In a meeting with undercover agents, Maldonado, who also went by the alias Gilberto Pizzaro, and Poirier sold them cocaine, authorities said in a news release.

On Thursday, drug agents and local police took the couple into custody after following their Nissan Maxima into a retail store’s parking lot.

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A half ounce of cocaine, a gram of crack cocaine and $2,500 in cash were found after agents searched their vehicle, agents said. Crandall said the couple did not resist arrest.

Crandall said a search warrant was later executed at the couple’s home on Stevens Lane in Farmingdale after Maldonado and Poirier were taken into custody.

Agents seized another ounce and a half of cocaine, plus scales and packaging materials from their home, he said.

The retail value of the cocaine seized during the investigation is more than $6,000, authorities said.

Crandall said he didn’t know if anyone else was inside the home when it was searched. He declined to provide additional information about the case.

Crandall said the couple was convicted in New Hampshire in 1998 for the distribution of cocaine and in Maine in 2009 for trafficking cocaine.

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If convicted of the recent charges, Maldonado faces four to 30 years in prison, while Poirier faces up to 10 years.

Both were being held at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta on Friday — Maldonado without bail because he violated probation and Poirier on $750 cash. They made initial appearances Friday via video in Augusta District Court.

The Augusta Police Department, Maine State Police, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department and Bath Police Department assisted MDEA with the investigation and arrests.

Mechele Cooper — 621-5663

mcooper@centralmaine.com


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