PORTLAND, Ore. — Investigators from a coalition of Portland-area law enforcement agencies seized about 28 pounds of fentanyl during a recent search of a single vehicle in downtown Portland, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
The Westside Interagency Narcotics Team received a tip in July from the Alameda County Narcotics Task Force about a large amount of fentanyl being moved out of Oakland, California, according to the news release. The task force had learned that the fentanyl was going to be smuggled into Portland.
Narcotics Team investigators, with help from the Portland Police Bureau's Narcotics and Organized Crime Division, found a vehicle parked along the South Park Blocks near the intersection with Southwest Jefferson Street, which they believed contained a large amount of fentanyl.
The team found Jorge J. Alas-Avila inside the vehicle when they approached and eventually detained him, learning that he was wanted on a narcotics-related felony warrant. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office assisted in applying for a search warrant, according to the news release, and once it was granted, investigators searched the vehicle and found about 40,000 fentanyl pills and about 18.4 pounds of powdered fentanyl, together weighing about 28 pounds.
The fentanyl was valued at $600,000 in total and was the equivalent of 3.5 million lethal doses, according to the news release, making it the largest fentanyl seizure in the history of the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team.
The Westside Interagency Narcotics Team includes officers from the Beaverton and Hillsboro police departments, the sheriff's office, the Oregon National Guard's counter-drug program and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.
