Four arrested at Tigard motel, accused of transporting 370 gallons of liquid heroin weighing 1.4 tons
Federal prosecutor calls it 'insane ... astronomical' amount of drug -- enough to make 53 million fatal doses
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Four suspected drug traffickers with apparent ties to a Sinaloa, Mexico-based transnational criminal organization are facing federal charges after they were caught transporting nearly 370 gallons of liquid heroin, federal prosecutors said late last week.
Marco Antonio Magallon, 44; Luis Deleon Woodward, 26; and Jorge Luis Amador, 25, all of Yakima, Washington, and Santos Alisael Aguilar Maya, 32, whose place of residence is unknown, have been charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and possess with intent to distribute heroin, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.
According to court documents, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, as part of an ongoing, multi-agency drug trafficking investigation, law enforcement obtained information that several individuals working for a transnational criminal organization were transporting a large load of illegal narcotics into the District of Oregon.
Late that evening and early the next morning, investigators observed a moving truck rented in Yakima, Wash., and driven by Amador and an accompanying red pickup truck traveling west on Interstate 84 near Bonneville. Investigators observed the vehicles travel together to a motel in Tigard, making one brief stop in a commercial parking lot in Beaverton.
Later that Thursday, investigators executed federal search warrants on the defendants’ motel room and two vehicles. They located and seized eight 55-gallon barrels containing approximately 370 gallons of a liquid narcotic inside the moving truck and two loaded handguns inside the motel room.
All four defendants were arrested without incident, though one of the four men attempted to escape out a back bedroom window but was caught.
Investigators transported the seized narcotic, which weighed approximately 1.4 metric tons, to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office narcotics room. Lab tests later confirmed the barrels contained liquid heroin.
According to The Oregonian/Oregon Live, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin called the amount of the liquid heroin “astronomical” -- equivalent to nearly 370 gallons.
“It’s an insane amount,” Kerin said Thursday in court. “Something we haven’t seen here in Oregon -- nothing even has come close to that in the past.”
He estimated that a fatal dose of heroin is about 30 milligrams. The 1.4 metric tons would provide 53.3 million fatal doses, Kerin told a judge. Not only the amount of the drug but its liquid state is unusual, Kerin said.
The case began with a tip that someone tied to the drug cartel was renting a U-Haul truck in Yakima and headed to the Portland area, the newspaper reported.
Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations initiallysuspected the barrels were carrying liquid fentanyl. Field tests returned positive results for fentanyl but further analysis by a forensic scientist in the Oregon State Crime Lab showed the seven barrels contained heroin, according to court documents.
Mexico-based drug cartels are attempting to increase their profit margins by introducing liquid drugs that can be injected through a syringe into the U.S. market, federal Homeland Security Investigations Agent Nathan Bresee wrote in the affidavit.
The drug trafficking organizations are “till trying to develop the correct formulation, hence there have been range of concentrations and different compositions,” the agent wrote.
U.S Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Armistead granted pretrial release to two of the four men, Amador and Woodward. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is challenging Armistead’s order releasing Woodward to a full U.S. District Court judge. Maya didn’t contest his continued detention. Magallion awaits a release hearing.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon later revoked Woodward’s release, finding no conditions will assure the safety of the community due to the nature of the offense.
Amador is accused of renting the U-Haul truck and driving it. Woodward was a passenger in the red pickup. Two guns also were found inside the motel room, according to court documents.
Woodward’s defense lawyer, Casey Kovacic, said Woodward had no connection to the U-Haul truck and just grabbed a ride with a friend from Yakima to Portland in the pickup.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, WCSO and the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team (WIN). It is being prosecuted by Kerin, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
WIN is a Washington County, Oregon-based High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force that includes members from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Beaverton and Hillsboro Police Departments, Oregon National Guard Counter Drug Program, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI, and HSI.
