Three charged in Bend methamphetamine bust

Three Bend residents face drug charges after a traffic stop led to a raid on a home and the seizure of more than $13,000 worth of methamphetamine, along with cash, guns and other items, drug agents said Tuesday.

Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team detectives, aided by Bend police, stopped a green Ford Mustang around 6:30 p.m. last Thursday at the intersection of NE Fifth Street and Olney Avenue, said, Lt. Ken Mannix.

Jessica Smith, 23, the driver of the car, was the subject of a recent CODE Team investigation, Mannix said.

As the car came to a stop, the passenger, identified as Brian Fee, jumped out and ran, the lieutenant said. Police apprehended him in an alley a short distance away, Mannix added.

A search by Bend police K-9 Zlatan in the alley found about 1 ounces of methamphetamine concealed in a container, sitting beside the gravel road, Mannix said.

The investigation led to a drug raid on a home at 64158 N. Hwy. 97 around 11:30 p.m. that night, Mannix said. That raid turned up about 10 ounces of meth, with a street value of about $13,000, scales, packaging material, two firearms, a small amount of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, and other evidence of meth sales and distribution, he said.

Detectives contacted James J. Babcock, 38, as he left the home just before the raid, Mannix said.

All three face drug possession and delivery charges, while Smith and Babcock also are charged with meth manufacture. Babcock also is charged with tampering with evidence, Mannix said.

Smith was released Friday from the Deschutes County Jail after posting 10 percent of her $20,000 bail, jail officers said. Fee remained held without bail Tuesday on a parole violation charge, while Babcock was held on $50,000 bail.