Four suspected drug traffickers with links to an international crime ring in Mexico were arrested in Oregon with multiple barrels of liquid heroin inside a moving truck, authorities said Thursday.
The bust happened on Jan. 25 at a motel in Tigard after investigators learned that several individuals who allegedly worked for the drug trafficking operation were hauling a load of illegal narcotics into Oregon, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon said in a news release.
Authorities tailed a rented moving truck driven by one of the suspects that was accompanied by a red pickup truck west on I-84 near Bonneville until they arrived at the motel, officials said.
After obtaining federal search warrants for the vehicles and the suspects’ motel room, investigators found eight 55-gallon barrels containing 370 gallons of liquid narcotics inside the moving truck and two loaded handguns inside the room, according to prosecutors.
The 1.4 metric tons of narcotics were later tested and officials confirmed the contents to be liquid heroin.
INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING RING MOVED NARCOTICS FROM MEXICO INTO US, CANADA: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
The suspects were identified as 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.
All four men have been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and possess with intent to distribute heroin.
