The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says two men, one from Ellsworth and the other from New York, were arrested in Ellsworth Tuesday and charged with selling crack cocaine.

The arrests followed the undercover purchase of crack from an apartment at 153 State St. in Ellsworth.  Drug agents found a 4-month-old child was present in the apartment at the time of the purchase and they decided to expedite the investigation in the interests of the baby.

At about 8 pm Tuesday night,  Frankie O. Montero, 34, of Brooklyn, New York and Vega Alta, Puerto Rico,  and Joshua Kane, 25, of Ellsworth were arrested and charged with Class A, Aggravated Trafficking in Schedule W Drugs (Crack). The charge was elevated to a Class A offense because of the presence of the baby in the apartment.

Both men were arrested in a vehicle near Wal Mart in Ellsworth.  The apartment, which is rented by Kane and the mother of the child, was searched  and about $7,000 in suspected drug proceeds were seized, along with other evidence of drug trafficking.

Both Montero and Kane were transported to the Hancock County Jail and made their first court appearances yesterday. Montero is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail,  and Kane on $15,000 bail..

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective unit was contacted  because of the presence of the child. The child and its mother were in the apartment at the time of the search and also when the undercover drug buy took place.

MDEA was assisted by Ellsworth Police. The investigation is on-going and more arrests are possible.

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