LISBON — More than $71,000 seized in a drug-trafficking investigation that began three years ago has enriched the resources of the Police Department, Town Council members learned Tuesday night.

The money represents 4 percent of “a very large seizure of cash,” police Chief David Brooks told the council.

“I will leave it to you to do the math as to what the total forfeiture was,” he said. It would put the total amount of cash at more than $1.77 million. The chief said he could not discuss the details of the case because the investigation was ongoing.

Brooks said he learned what Lisbon’s share of the forfeiture would be when he got a phone call from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent saying the money would be transferred to the town electronically; it has since been transferred.

Brooks praised Detective William Tapley “who worked with the feds in Maine and out of state” on the investigation. More information on the case will be forthcoming from the U.S. Attorney’s office, he said.

Earlier in the meeting, two residents urged the council not to designate the funds to the town’s Police Department, saying the town has other problems that should be addressed.

“This community has a lot of needs. We could restore dump service on Thursday or spend it on the roads,” Larry Fillmore said. “Do we want to use it for the good of the community or the good of Chief Brooks?”

The town has no choice in how the money will be spent, the chief pointed out, reading from the federal government’s guidelines on how the shared forfeited funds can be used.

“This shared money must be used to supplement the resources of the law enforcement agency,” the chief said. “These are not my rules.”

Fillmore’s suggestion to spend it in other ways “would be a direct violation of federal regulations,” Brooks said.

He detailed how he has used forfeiture money he has received in the past.

“This sidearm that I’m carrying this evening, for example,” he said. “The sidearms we were carrying were 10 years old. Federal forfeiture money paid for 100 percent of the replacements.”

Other forfeiture money has been used for matching grants, equipment and medical care for the canine unit.