Two New York men arrested on heroin charges in Portland after a two-month drug investigation are accused of giving Portland residents drugs or money in exchange for using their homes to deal drugs locally, Maine State Police said Thursday.

Luchone Elzey, 24, and Jacquil Turner, 21, both of the Bronx, were charged with aggravated trafficking in heroin, according to a release from state police spokesman Stephen McCausland. They were arrested Wednesday night at an apartment at 409 Cumberland Ave. after a number of undercover heroin purchases, he said.

Agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency have been investigating the distribution of heroin in the Portland area by a group from New York City for two months, and learned that members of the group traveled weekly from New York to Portland with large amounts of heroin, McCausland said.

They would then sell heroin from a number of locations throughout Portland, typically apartments where the residents would receive heroin or money as payment for letting the group use their home.

Agents seized about 8 ounces of heroin, which has a street value of $35,000 and is the equivalent of about 4,760 doses, according to a release from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. They also seized $4,000 in cash and various items associated with drug trafficking.

Elzey and Turner were being held Thursday at Cumberland County Jail on $50,000 cash bail for Elzey and $25,000 cash bail for Turner.

Officials said the investigation is continuing and additional charges against the apartment renter and others involved are likely.

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