NORWAY — Two people were arrested on drug trafficking charges Tuesday after months of investigation by the Norway Police Department.

Molly J. Groves, 20, of Norway Center Road in Norway was charged with two counts of aggravated drug trafficking and one count of possession of hypodermic needles. Josiah James Heath, 31, of Oxford Street in Paris was charged with one count each of aggravated drug trafficking and possession of hypodermic needles. Both remained at the Oxford County Jail on Thursday afternoon.

Norway officer Theron Bickford said Groves had been the subject of an ongoing investigation, and had twice sold about one gram of heroin to undercover individuals less than 200 feet from the Guy E. Rowe Elementary School. Bickford said the sales happened a couple of months ago.

"She actually disappeared for a time frame. We weren't able to find her," he said.

Bickford said he was working on another incident on Tuesday afternoon when he recognized Groves' vehicle on Main Street, with Heath and 20-year-old Tyler O'Donnell of Norway Center Road in Norway as passengers. Trooper Adam Fillebrown of the Maine State Police was contacted to stop the vehicle. A search of the vehicle, assisted by Fillebrown's trained dog, found four grams of cocaine and a quantity of heroin on Heath, a Hi-Point 9 mm semi-automatic handgun in the trunk, and 13 hypodermic needles.

Bickford said O'Donnell was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after yelling at officers and trying to interfere with the investigation. O'Donnell was later released from jail.

Chief Robert Federico, Detective Gary Hill and Officer Holli Pullen of the Norway Police Department also assisted, along with Deputy Josh Wyman of the Oxford County Sheriff's Office.

In an unrelated incident, Federico, Hill and Wyman also assisted with a search of the residence of 26-year-old James Michael Sirmopoulos on Huntington Avenue in Norway on Wednesday. Bickford said Sirmopoulos had also been investigated for allegedly selling marijuana to an undercover individual. Police found four marijuana plants and bagged marijuana.

Sirmopoulos was charged with unlawful trafficking in drugs, marijuana cultivation, and possession of an illegal drug. He had made bail at the Oxford County Jail by Thursday afternoon.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com