RUMFORD — A substitute school teacher at Mountain Valley Middle School and an assistant wrestling coach at Mountain Valley High School were among four men arrested Wednesday on charges of smuggling heroin and crack cocaine into Western Maine from southern New England, police said.

Teacher and coach Matthew D. Duka, 25, of 22 Duka Lane in Hanover was charged with conspiring to import heroin and cocaine from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, according a news release from the Rumford Police Department.

There was evidence Duka tried to sell drugs to a local 18-year old student, but the student declined, the release said.

Also arrested were convicted drug dealer Angel Ariel Cabrera, 25, 16 Rose St. in Mexico; Kenneth Armstrong, 26, 13 Dix Ave. in Mexico; and Sean Michael “Cali” Blalock, 32, 79 Todd Hollow Road, Wolcott, Connecticut.

Police said the investigation of Duka and Cabrera began in February when agents and local police received information that Duka was involved in smuggling heroin from Boston and selling it locally. Because of his affiliation with the schools, investigators brought in undercover agents to begin gathering evidence. An undercover drug agent purchased heroin from Duka in Mexico and learned he was working for drug dealers operating from a Dixfield residence, according to the release.

Investigators said Cabrera hired Duka to pick up heroin and crack cocaine and bring it to Cabrera and others in Dixfield to prepare it for street sales.

Cabrera was convicted in 2015 in the Oxford County Superior Court of conspiracy to traffick drugs in Rumford, served a year in jail and was released on probation. Since then, MDEA and Rumford police learned Cabrera was selling heroin from the Muskie Building in Rumford and they made a covert drug purchase from him, the release said.

Cabrera was arrested at a residence in Mexico on Wednesday, according to the release.

Duka and his passenger, Armstrong, were stopped Wednesday by Maine State Police as they were exiting the Maine Turnpike in Auburn from a trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to buy cocaine. Troopers found less than 5 grams of cocaine and $3,488 in cash on Armstrong.

Both men were arrested and taken to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, according to the release. Both were denied bail; Duka is expected to be arraigned Friday.

Blalock was arrested as a result of an investigation into a heroin smuggling operation from Wolcott, Connecticut, investigators said. Maine drug agents, Rumford police and Maine State Police stopped a car in Auburn in April 2016, seized 188 doses of heroin and arrested the driver, Lauren Leonard. They also charged her boyfriend, Logan White, the next day.

Investigators eventually identified Blalock as the supplier of that heroin and issued a warrant for his arrest this spring, according to the release.

He was arrested at a supermarket in Wolcott, Connecticut, on Wednesday and is being held pending extradition to Maine.

Duka was charged with unlawful trafficking in heroin, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, and criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin.

Cabrera was charged with criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of cocaine base, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated importation of heroin, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking of cocaine base, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking of heroin, and violation of conditions of release.

Armstrong was charged with illegal importation of cocaine, unlawful possession of cocaine and violation of conditions of release.

Blalock was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated trafficking of heroin and attempted aggravated trafficking of heroin.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

Kenneth Armstrong

Sean Michael “Cali” Blalock

Angel Ariel Cabrera

Matthew D. Duka

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