AUBURN — A local man was arrested Tuesday and charged with drug crimes after police searched his home and business and found cocaine and more than a dozen guns.

Darren Douin, 43, was stopped by police about 1 p.m. based on information from an ongoing narcotics investigation, according to a statement released late Tuesday by Deputy Police Chief Timothy Cougle.

Based on evidence from the traffic stop, police executed two search warrants: one at Douin’s home at 28 Grove St. and another at his business, Happy Days Diner, at 67 Mill St., Cougle wrote. According to Douin’s Facebook profile, he is the owner of the diner.

Police seized 70 grams of crack cocaine, 55 grams of cocaine, 112 ecstasy pills, 2.2 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 17 guns, including rifles and pistols, $25,530 in suspected drug proceeds and other evidence of drug trafficking, Cougle wrote.

Douin faces two counts of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, each charge punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He also was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of schedule W drugs, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

According to court documents, police believe Douin may have been manufacturing and selling narcotics out of his diner, which opened in 2006, for nearly a decade.

According to a court affidavit written by Auburn police Sgt. Nicholas Gagnon, police first heard about potential marijuana dealing at the diner in 2015 after a former Happy Days employee reported the activity to police. Police took a report, but it wasn’t until additional sources came forward that the investigation into drug dealing at the diner became more focused.

In 2022, Gagnon heard from various sources that Douin was selling crack cocaine and possibly synthetic opioids such as fentanyl or heroin from his home and from the diner, according to the affidavit.

“Some of the sources would report that Darren and or conspirators in his drug activity were manufacturing crack cocaine in the restaurant in the overnight hours,” Gagnon wrote. “A business owner in the area of Center Street Plaza at 120 Center St. was reporting in 2022 that there was a black male who would come from Darren’s house on Grove Street, walk the path from the house into the back of the Center Street Plaza, and he would meet with vehicles for less than a minute or two, then walk back to the house as the vehicle departed the area.”

In November 2022, Gagnon wrote, police pulled over a man driving Douin’s Chevrolet Camero on Turner Street. During the stop, police found $10,000 wrapped in a heat-sealed freezer bag. Such packaging, police say, is used by drug dealers to mask the odor of narcotics.

Then, in 2023, an off-duty Auburn police officer reported to Gagnon that he had been eating at the Happy Days Diner when he observed what he believed to be drug activity around the restaurant.

As Gagnon continued to investigate, more evidence developed indicating that Douin was at the center of a drug trafficking scheme, according to the affidavit.

In January, another source close to Douin reported suspicions that Douin was dealing drugs. A month later, another source came forward with information about drug dealing at Happy Days Diner.

“He said the owner, Darren, is selling fentanyl and crack cocaine in large quantities and he does this from his diner as well as his home,” Gagnon wrote.

The affidavit also highlights a number of police calls involving Douin dating back to 2017 — weapons complaints, a car crash and reports of threatening among them.

For Gagnon, the compilation of such evidence amounted to probable cause and on Tuesday, he was granted search warrants for Douin’s home and business.

About 1 p.m. Tuesday, Gagnon spotted Douin getting into his Jeep with two young females who came out of the Happy Days Diner. Also in the vehicle was Douin’s 11-year-old daughter, police said.

Shortly after, Gagnon stopped Douin’s Jeep on Main Street for an expired registration. When Douin got out of the vehicle, police said, he admitted that he was carrying a .40-caliber handgun.

In the rear seat of the Jeep, Gagnon found a zippered bag with a combination lock built into it. Douin eventually revealed the combination code, Gagnon wrote, although he claimed he did not know what was in the bag.

Inside the bag were three smaller bags containing more than 100 grams of cocaine in various forms, empty packaging and a digital scale with white residue on it, Gagnon wrote.

Also recovered was a bottle with “several prescription pills” and a bag containing crystal methamphetamine and the drug known as Ecstasy.

Some money, suspected drug proceeds, was also found in the bag, while larger amounts were found in a safe at Douin’s home, police said.

Douin also led Gagnon to multiple guns scattered throughout the house, according to the affidavit, and additional quantities of Ecstasy were found in a safe in Douin’s basement.

The drug charges against Douin are considered aggravated due to the fact that he was armed with with a firearm while allegedly trafficking in the drugs. Additionally, Douin’s diner is in front of Anniversary Park, which is marked as a drug free zone, according to the affidavit, and Douin’s home, meanwhile, is less than 1,000 feet from Washburn Elementary School, which also elevates the charges against him.

Douin was taken to Androscoggin County Jail where his bail was set at $30,000 cash. He remained jailed Wednesday night.

The case remains under investigation and additional charges are expected, Cougle said.

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