Twelve people were arrested Saturday as part of a mission led by Oregon State Police and the Portland Police Bureau targeting drug dealers in downtown Portland, authorities announced.
Of the 12 people arrested, 10 face charges for distributing fentanyl, according to Oregon State Police, noting law enforcement seized more than 240 grams of powdered fentanyl, 2.6 grams of meth, a gun, and over $2,000.
Officials said the mission was part of an ongoing effort between the two law enforcement agencies to disrupt fentanyl use and distribution in the city.
The mission included PPB’s Central Bike Squad, OSP’s Drug Enforcement Section, and Mobile Response Team, which has been deployed in downtown Portland since October 2023, officials said.
Since then, the team has completed over 40 missions, six of which involved drug dealing, OSP said.
“What we’re aiming to do is make an effort to those who are distributing [drugs] at the street level to deter that sort of behavior so that those business owners, pedestrians, and patrons just heading into the downtown area can feel free, safe, and secure to move about in those spaces without coming across a fentanyl dealer, or fentanyl paraphernalia, or fentanyl in general,” OSP Captain Kyle Kennedy told KOIN 6 News.
Citing data from the Oregon Health Authority and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, authorities said fentanyl has surpassed meth as the leading cause of overdose deaths in Oregon.
