The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says it has disrupted a trafficking operation that intended to distribute “a significant amount of heroin” in the Skowhegan area and other parts of central Maine.

MDEA Cmdr. Peter Arno said in a press release on the agency’s Facebook page that the distribution ring’s leaders – a Skowhegan woman and a man from Methuen, Massachusetts – were arrested Tuesday morning during a traffic stop in Skowhegan.

Kirsten Libby, 26, of Skowhegan was charged with aggravated trafficking. She was being held in the Somerset County Jail on Tuesday night with her bail set at $50,000 cash. Michael D. Figueroa, 40, of Methuen also was charged with aggravated trafficking. He was held in the jail on $100,000 cash bail.

Arno said MDEA agents were given information that Libby had driven to Massachusetts and was returning to Maine with heroin. Drug agents got a search warrant for her vehicle and passengers before stopping her in Skowhegan. They recovered about 40 grams of heroin, with a street value of about $5,500.

In the press release, Arno identifies Libby as the local ringleader of the heroin distribution operation. He said the investigation began several months ago and is continuing, and more arrests are likely.

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