C.O. drug agents arrest father, son; Sisters, Redmond raids find large quantity of fentanyl, marijuana grow

Felon who allegedly tended grow charged with illegal rifle possession

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team arrested a Sisters man and his adult son, a Redmond resident, just before a pair of raids at their homes allegedly turned up large quantities of drugs, including fentanyl distributed around the region and marijuana grown and shipped across the U.S.

A third man, a convicted felon, was arrested on a weapons charge on the father’s property, living in a motorhome and tending to a large commercial marijuana grow found there, drug agents said.

A long-term investigation and surveillance operation led to Monday's arrests and execution of search warrants on the 64-year-old Sisters man’s property on Holmes Road and the 45-year-old son’s home on Obsidian Place in Redmond, CODE Team Lt. Mike Landolt and Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp said in a news release late Tuesday.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Bend and Redmond police departments and Deschutes County Illicit Marijuana Enforcement Team also were involved in the investigation.

Drug agents over the past couple of months identified the father and son as fentanyl traffickers in Central Oregon, possessing large quantities of the deadly drug, they said.

The two men were contacted in or near their vehicles and arrested Monday as they left their homes, followed by raids in both locations.

In the father’s home, detectives found a commercial quantity of fentanyl, as well as cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, several guns and gash, Landolt and Vander Kamp said.

Detectives also dismantled a large commercial marijuana grow and a BHO (butane honey oil) extraction laboratory. Investigators said the father was growing marijuana and selling processed marijuana by shipping it around the country.

More evidence of drug distribution was found at the son’s residence, and a search of his person found fentanyl powder, packaging material and cash.

A 54-year-old Sisters man living on the father’s property in a Class A motorhome was tending to the marijuana grow. The convicted felon was arrested for illegal possession of a rifle, the lieutenant and sergeant said.

The three men were booked into the county jail in Bend on drug delivery and possession charges. The man allegedly tending the grow was still being held Tuesday night, but jail records showed the father and son no longer in custody. A jail officer said both were conditionally released Monday night, pending court dates scheduled for later this month.

The drug agents said more charges may be filed as a result of the ongoing investigation.