PORTLAND, Oregon — Fentanyl is not only easy to find in downtown Portland, but it is also cheap to get. The corner of Southwest 6th Avenue and Harvey Milk Street in downtown Portland is a hot spot for drug use and drug dealing, authorities say. On Tuesday, a police officer doing surveillance in the area spotted a man selling what was believed to be fentanyl.
"We went to stop the individual," Portland Police Bureau Officer David Baer said. "He ran on a skateboard. He made it a couple blocks. He was arrested here."
The 17-year-old had an outstanding warrant for robbery, police said. As it turned out, it was not the wildest bust of the week. That came Monday.
Officer Baer said they found a man with approximately 3,500 blue pills laced with fentanyl. The man was selling the pills for as little as 80 cents each, Baer added.
"We thought there's no way you can get cheaper than a dollar," he said. "Obviously with market demands and all that, the economies of the drug market, he said $0.80 and we even confirmed that because I'm like there's no way he said 80 cents."
The suspected dealer is identified as Edis Centeno. He has no criminal history locally. Centeno appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to answer to the felony drug charges.
"Are some of these people labor-trafficking victims," Baer said. "You could absolutely say that."
Regardless of who they are, Baer said they are pushing drugs that should be avoided at all costs.
"Don't trust any drugs you find on the street," he said. "Drugs we've tested that we seized in the last year have tested positive for fentanyl, including cocaine and meth and other recreational drugs. Everything has fentanyl residue on it. At this point, the pills you're buying on the street that people tell you is oxycodone, it's counterfeit fentanyl."