LEWISTON – A police officer acting on a tip Thursday morning led drug agents to a motel room where they said they found a Massachusetts man in possession of drugs, guns and cash.

Police said 44-year-old Vodie “Rick” Goodman was found with more than 238 grams of crack cocaine, 41 grams of powdered cocaine, marijuana, anti-psychotic drugs, two loaded handguns and roughly $6,000 in cash.

Police said Goodman, formerly of Worcester, Mass., was living in the Twin Cities area and supplying another man with drugs to be sold in Lewiston and Auburn. He was arrested on two counts of trafficking in cocaine.

Investigators from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency say back-to-back busts in Lewiston and Auburn this week prove one thing: crack remains prevalent in the area as out-of-state dealers team up with local addicts to distribute the dope.

Early Wednesday morning, a Lewiston man was arrested on drug and weapons charges after Auburn police stopped a car on the South Bridge. Police said 26-year-old Samuel Hooker, formerly of the Dorchester section of Boston., was a passenger in his Cadillac when it was stopped for having taillights switched off.

Hooker was arrested on a charge of trafficking after Auburn police and MDEA agents said they found 47.5 grams of crack, $4,700 worth of pot and a .25-caliber pistol.

On Thursday morning, Lewiston police Officer Trevor Campbell received a tip linking Hooker to Goodman, who was said to be supplying crack to local dealers. Campbell learned that Goodman was staying in an apartment on High Street in Auburn. He was then told that Goodman had left that place and had checked into the Morning Star Motel at 1905 Lisbon St. in Lewiston.

Trevor and other Lewiston police officers joined agents from the MDEA and from the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force as they went to the Morning Star to search for Goodman.

MDEA Supervisor Gerry Baril said the agents found Goodman in a room there holding 29.6 grams of crack and $2,600 in cash. Nearby, they found 40.7 grams of marijuana and a duffel bag containing a locked metal security box, Baril said. The box was taken to the MDEA office and opened after an 8th District Court judge granted a search warrant.

Baril said the contents of the box included 208.3 grams of crack, 41.5 grams of powdered cocaine, 75.7 grams of marijuana, 54 tablets of Seroquel, an anti-psychotic drug, $3,500 in cash, a loaded Colt .357-caliber Magnum, a loaded Glock 9mm pistol, and three magazines loaded with ammunition.

According to Baril, Goodman had been bringing crack, coke and pot to the Twin Cities where Hooker was lining up people to sell the drugs. It is the same system drug dealers have been using for years, he said. Typically, distributors from Brooklyn, N.Y., Connecticut or Massachusetts come to Lewiston and seek out a crack addict, frequently a woman. The supplier than remains inside the addict’s apartment, paying the rent and doling out some of the crack, while the local addict goes to the streets and deals.

On Thursday night, Hooker and Goodman remained at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn. They were expected to be arraigned today.

Seized items from drug busts in Auburn and Lewiston:

Crack cocaine: 285.4 grams, street value estimated at up to $40,000.

Powdered cocaine: 41.5 grams, street value estimated at $5,000.

Cash: $6,100.

Weapons: .25-caliber pistol, Colt .357-caliber Magnum, Glock 9mm pistol.

Source: Maine Drug Enforcement Agency