Over 50lbs of fentanyl seized in largest fentanyl bust by Oregon sheriff’s office

By Chandler Watkins

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    PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) — The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said a months-long investigation ended in several arrests and resulted in one of the largest fentanyl seizures in state history and the largest in agency history.

MSCO said the Dangerous Drugs Team, a multi-agency task force also known as DDT, executed search warrants in Northeast Portland and Oregon City early Thursday, Dec. 7 following an investigation into a drug trafficking organization officials said was selling fentanyl in the tri-county area.

At the Portland location, MSCO said law enforcement located more than 52 pounds of fentanyl powder. At the Oregon City location, more than one pound of fentanyl powder and over 8,000 fentanyl pills were discovered according to officials.

“If you go based on DEA stats for milligrams of fentanyl this is potentially 11 million doses,” Sgt. Matt Ferguson with MSCO said.

Ferguson said fentanyl has been a game changer for our area, as well as agencies investigations.

“Because of its availability, how inexpensive it is, and how easy it is to transport,” Ferguson said. “Unfortunately we have a substantial user base. It’s really led to a significant increase in overdoses so making a seizure like this we hope will have a positive impact in reducing those overdoses.”

In addition to drugs, MSCO said over $30,000 in cash and multiple firearms, including two firearms that were broken down and concealed in packages addressed to locations outside the U.S., were seized.

MSCO said three people were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center: 23-year-old Luis Funez, 21-year-old Gerson Isaac Hernandez Betancurt and 37-year-old Dezirae Ann Torset. The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

MSCO said the Dangerous Drugs Team is a narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts, and dismantles local, multi-state, and international drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence-driven, multi-agency, prosecutor-supported approach. They said the MCDDT is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) which is composed of members from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Gresham Police, FBI, Parole and Probation and U.S. Marshals.

The U.S. Marshal Service, FBI, and Clackamas County Inter-Agency Task Force assisted in executing the warrants according to MSCO.

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