A 34-year-old Portland woman was arrested Wednesday on charges of selling crack cocaine and heroin from a motel room near the Portland/Westbrook line, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Thursday.
Erica Burwell was charged with two counts of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and receiving stolen property following a brief investigation by the Westbrook Police Department and the MDEA that was spurred by a heroin overdose.
Earlier Wednesday, Westbrook police and emergency medical personnel responded to a heroin overdose near 17 Main St., according to police.
The man who overdosed was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated and released. At the scene of the overdose, police found several packages of heroin with distinctive packaging. Investigators determined that the heroin was being sold from a motel room at the Portland Travelodge at 1200 Brighton Ave.
Surveillance of the motel revealed that the occupants of room 127 appeared to be selling drugs. Police searched the room Wednesday night and found about 4 grams each of heroin and crack cocaine, two handguns, and about $4,500 in cash. The heroin seized was packaged in the same material as the drugs found at the overdose location, police said.
One of the handguns had been reported stolen during a burglary in Standish, police said.
Burwell was arrested as she attempted to flush the drugs down the toilet, police said.
She was taken to Cumberland County Jail in Portland, where she is being held on $50,000 bail.
Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:
mbyrne@pressherald.com
Twitter: MattByrnePPH
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story