LEWISTON — Police have busted two drug deals while staking out local streets undercover, part of a new strategy aimed at cracking down on community crime.

Two local officers parked in an unmarked police car witnessed two hand-to-hand exchanges of drugs for money last week while conducting surveillance undercover.

One of the busts involved two juveniles in connection with narcotics violations. In the other arrest, police charged Cory L. Flewelling, 21, of Lewiston. He got two counts of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs. The bust netted about a pound of marijuana and seven ecstasy pills with a combined value of $1,800, police said Monday in a written release. Flewelling posted bail and was released from Androscoggin County Jail.

Tips to the Community Resource Team led to the arrests, police said. The tips identified specific trends and patterns of drug activity in the city. A recently reused police substation at 292 Bates St. has led to a greater flow of information between police and area residents.

“Working directly in the community, we can accomplish a lot more than simply riding around in a patrol car, said Officer Thomas Murphy, one of the two officers credited with last week’s arrests. His partner was officer Craig Johnson.

“The citizens of Lewiston need to know that our primary focus is addressing their concerns,” Johnson said. “Based on the information we’ve received, this is clearly one of the areas that we need to direct our efforts.”

Chief Michael Bussiere said the arrests reflect the aim of the new Community Resource Team, created in January.

“This is the kind of proactive policing that we envisioned when creating the Community Resource Officer Unit,” he said. “This unit will work collaboratively with the citizens that want to improve their community and their neighborhoods, but they will be a thorn in the side of those that want to ruin it by peddling illegal drugs on our streets.”