AUBURN — A man and woman were arrested on drug charges Thursday after police searched a home on Seventh Street where roughly 24 grams of crystal methamphetamine was seized.

Jeffrey Bartos, 41, and Miranda Loggans, 37, were charged with aggravated drug trafficking and drug possession.

Just over a year ago, the couple was charged with animal cruelty after police and wildlife officials removed as many as 60 cats, some dead and others in poor health, from their Seventh Street home.

Because of those earlier charges, Bartos was also charged with violating conditions of release set after his arrest on the animal cruelty charges in January of 2024. He was being held without bail at the Androscoggin County Jail Thursday night.

Loggans, also jailed, was being held on bail set at $10,000 cash.

According to an Auburn police news release, the department’s Proactive Community Enforcement Unit has been investigating the home at 113 Seventh St. for reports of crimes being committed at the home.

On Thursday morning, a search warrant was conducted there and both Loggans and Bartos were arrested at the scene.

Both were charged with three counts of aggravated drug trafficking and three counts of drug possession.

Police first began investigating the couple in August of 2023 after neighbors began complaining about hordes of cats and unhealthy conditions at the home.

“The place is beyond filthy,” one neighbor said at the time, “a public disaster waiting to happen.”

At least one kitten was found dead by people who went to the home to investigate. Photos emerged of that cat, along with several others, some of which showed open sores and other health concerns.

In another image, a mother cat was seen nursing kittens on a bare floor in a room strewn with debris. Holes were seen in unfinished walls and makeshift cat litter boxes are scattered throughout the house.

In other photos, clusters of cats could be seen gathered in dirty, cluttered rooms surrounded by garbage and debris, including discarded food.

In mid-January 2024, both Loggans and Bartos were charged with animal cruelty and they were forbidden from keeping pets. Weeks later, police and an animal control officer were still rounding up cats from the property.

The cats who lived through the ordeal were treated at various shelters around the state.