OSP Hwy. 97 stop turns up liquid meth; driver jailed

An Oregon State Police trraffic stop Friday afternoon along Highway 97 north of Madras led to the arrest of a California man after a trooper found about 20 pounds of liquid methamphetamine concealed in his rental car, troopers said.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, an OSP senior trooper stopped a rented 2013 Hyundai Elantra displaying California license plates for a speed violation in a construction zone on Highway 97 near Northeast Elm Lane in Jefferson County.

During the stop, the driver was identified as Silvestre Rivera Fernandez, 25, from South Gate, California.

Troopers said a subsequent investigation during the traffic stop led the trooper to discover three vacuum-sealed bags concealed in the car, holding a substance determined to be liquid methamphetamine. Troopers said the estimated value was pending confirmation of the liquid meth, which can later be converted to a solid form of the drug.

Rivera Fernandez was taken into custody without incident and lodged in the Jefferson County Jail on charges of drug possession and delivery. He remained held late Saturday on $20,000 bail, a jail officer said.

OSP troopers from the Madras and Bend offices were assisted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and OSP’s Drug Enforcement Section, which is continuing the investigation.