Last week, deputies in Oregon made the largest fentanyl seizure in the county’s history, seizing tens of thousands of pills and powder in gallon-sized plastic sacks, according to authorities.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office stated that the arrest occurred on Tuesday while authorities were observing a sought individual in the Goose Hollow area of Portland. Deputies arrested the suspect “at the appropriate time” after observing him walk to a vehicle.
The Special Investigations Unit of the sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant for the individual’s car and apartment, where they discovered gallon-sized plastic bags filled with fentanyl pills and fentanyl powder, a manually-operated pill press, a commercial-grade pill press, $5,000 in cash, and a stolen handgun.
According to authorities, the packages contained approximately 58,000 individual fentanyl pills and 16 pounds of fentanyl powder.
Deputies determined that 10 pounds of the 16 pounds of powder were prepared to be compressed into approximately 50,000 pills using the machinery. The remaining six pounds of powder, which would have produced an additional 30,000 tablets, was intended to be sold in powder form, according to officials.
Deputies estimate that their efforts prevented approximately 138,000 tablets from reaching the streets of the Portland metropolitan area. The estimated street value of the confiscated drugs was between $320,000 and $400,000 in total.
Officials reported that six out of ten tablets seized contained 2 milligrams of potentially lethal fentanyl.
The sheriff’s office stated that the individual’s identity was not immediately revealed due to ongoing investigations.
In Clackamas County, deputies seized 92,000 fentanyl pills and other narcotics during a coordinated traffic stop just one year prior to this arrest.
