Police Seize $54K in Heroin From Home With 3 Young Children Inside

Three people were charged, and more arrests are likely

Three people were arrested and $54,000 worth of heroin seized as part of a drug investigation this week in Maine.

Three children - ages 2, 6 and 11 - were at the home at the time it was searched and are now in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Following a six-month investigation, Washington County deputies and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents said they searched the home of Tara Townsend and James Ritchie on Route 1 in Perry, Maine, late Tuesday night.

Seized during the search was approximately 135 grams of heroin with a street value of $54,000, along with other evidence of drug trafficking.

Townsend, 35, Ritchie, 59, and Felix Gracia, 37, of Waterbury, Connecticut, were all charged with aggravated heroin trafficking. Gracia was also wanted on outstanding warrants out of his home state. Bail was set at $100,000 cash for all three suspects, and they were scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Additional arrests are expected.

"The end result of this investigation shows what we can accomplish by agencies working together," Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis said in a statement.

The Pleasant Point Police Department and Maine State Police assisted in the investigation.

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