Alleged Bend cocaine trafficker arrested after drug deal; raid on motel room, car turns up various drugs, cash, gun

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 36-year-old Bend man was recently arrested on cocaine trafficking charges after he left a motel room. A subsequent raid on that room and his vehicle turned up a variety of drugs, scales, packaging material, a gun and cash, authorities said Wednesday.

The man was arrested after the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team conducted  a long-term investigation and surveillance on the suspect during an apparent drug deal and later at a motel near Third Street and Greenwood Avenue, Lt. Mike Landolt said in a news release Wednesday.

The man was taken into custody without any issues and taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was booked on felony cocaine possession, as well as cocaine manufacturing and delivery charges. A jail officer said he was released on his own recognizance that night, pending a court hearing scheduled for July 11.

NewsChannel 21 policy is not to name arrested suspects until and unless formal charges are filed, and there was no record of such charges in court files by late Wednesday.

Around 7 p.m. last Thursday, CODE Team drug agents conducting surveillance saw an apparent drug transaction in the area of NE Division Street and Vail Avenue, when someone walked to the suspect’s vehicle, Landolt said.

The person who met with the suspect left the area in a vehicle, which was stopped by CODE detectives, assisted by Bend Police, in the area of South Division Street and Reed Market Road. Landolt said they seized a quantity of cocaine. They are not identifying the person.

Drug agents had probable cause to arrest the suspect for delivering cocaine, so they set up surveillance at the motel room. He left his room around 8:30 and was taken into custody by the CODE Team and Bend Police “without any issues,” the lieutenant said.

CODE detectives applied for and were granted a search warrant for the man’s hotel room and vehicle, conducting the raid around 9:30 p.m., During the search, drug agents seized cocaine, ecstasy, Xanax, psilocybin mushrooms, a handgun, scales, packaging material and cash, Landolt said.

More charges may be filed, Landolt said, as the investigation is ongoing.