Crime & Safety
Multi-Million Dollar Meth Bust: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Makes Largest Seizure In Their History
The sheriff's office says that they seized about 100 pounds of meth, two pounds of heroin, and nearly $30,000 in cash.
It was the largest drug seizure in the history of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Three arrests. One hundred pounds of methamphetamine. Two pounds of heroin. Not to mention nearly $30,000 in cash, and a firearm.
As part of an ongoing probe, the office's Special Investigations Unit and Warrant Strike Team executed search warrants at 4030 SE 104 Avenue in Portland where a suspect was renting a room from a family and at 1718 E Orient Drive in Gresham.
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At the two locations, deputies seized the drugs, which the sheriff's office has a street value worth well more than $2 million.
"In our mission to help those working to find success in drug treatment, it is critical that we work to remove the supply of drugs coming into our community," says Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese. "Last night's successful mission made a significant impact in removing a large amount of methamphetamine from making it to the streets of our community."
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Officials say the 100 pounds of meth would have translated to about 50,000 does on the street.
They say the drug had likely been imported as a liquid from Mexico and crystalized in Gresham. Officials believe that three were likely on the receiving end of a shipment connected to one of the cartels in Mexico.
Deputies arrested 34-year-old Alfredo Narciso-Pineda of Portland, 25-year-old Alejandro Lopez-Gonzales of Gresham, and 39-year-old Celso Marroquin Benitez of Portland, on multiple charges related to the Possession, Distribution and Manufacturing of methamphetamine and heroin.
It is the second bust in the area this week that officials believe can be traced back to the Mexican cartels.
On Monday, a trooper with the Oregon State Police stopped a Ford Expedition on I-84 and seized more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine.
He arrested the driver, 28-year-old Edgar Vidal Nuno Naranjo from Rosarito, Mexico, and the passenger, 24-year-old Oscar Arnulfo Fuller Leyva from Tijuana, Mexico.
Photo Oregon State Police
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