SANFORD — Two more drug agents are being assigned to York County to help combat the growing opioid epidemic.

Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Commander Scott Pelletier, whose jurisdiction runs from Thomaston south to the New Hampshire border, said Tuesday that two more DEA agents will be joining the four currently assigned to the county, perhaps as early as mid-March.

Cumberland County will also get two additional agents, and Thomaston will receive one, for a total of five agents funded for the southern Maine division. There are also five more agents approved for the territory that extends into northern and eastern Maine.

All 10 additional agents were first proposed by Gov. Paul LePage and approved as part of a comprehensive drug bill recently passed by the state Legislature.

“We’re targeting mid- to high-level distributors,” said Pelletier, who called the opioid epidemic a “never-ending problem.”

Like the rest of the state and New England, Maine has been combating a sharp increase in heroin addiction and illegal drug distribution in recent years. On Tuesday, the same day the additional DEA agents were announced, authorities reported two drug-related arrests in south Sanford.

According to Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, Sanford residents Danny Taylor, 27, and Christine Butler, 39, were selling heroin out of a room they rented at a Super 8 motel. Taylor tried to fling a bag containing 18 grams of heroin out a window as police were entering the room, McCausland said.

Drug agents and Sanford police seized 25 grams of heroin and $3,450 in cash from the room. McCausland said the seized heroin was the equivalent of about 250 individual doses, with a street value of $4,000.

Pelletier said the pair were a “significant source” of drugs distributed in the greater Sanford area. Taylor and Butler are each charged with aggravated heroin trafficking, a Class A felony, and represent the latest in what authorities say is an increased concentration on arresting drug dealers.

McCausland said the operation resulting in Monday’s arrest began with an investigation weeks earlier.

Sanford Police Det. Eric Small said people were calling in information about drug dealing anonymously to the department’s tip line. That, combined with what intelligence officers heard on the street, led Sanford police to involve the MDEA.

Pelletier said it was too soon to predict whether there will be more arrests in connection with the case, but confirmed that the investigation is continuing. He pointed out that the pair either traveled to acquire the drugs, or the drugs were brought to them by another party.

“We will continue to look for their sources,” he said.

Taylor and Butler were taken to York County Jail, where Taylor’s bail was set at $10,000 cash. Butler, who had previously been released on bail in connection with three other drug trafficking charges, was held without bail.

Both were scheduled to make a first appearance this afternoon via video link from the jail to Springvale District Court.

“That’s two more people not selling stuff in Sanford, and that is good,” said Small.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.