Leader of major drug ring arrested in Oregon, feds say

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) – KATU is with you after the leader of a major drug trafficking ring linked to the Sinaloa Cartel was taken down in our region.

Federal agents have arrested tons of fentanyl and methamphetamine that may have been headed to the streets of Portland.

Prosecutors said Eduardo Mendoza, known as Casper, was arrested Wednesday in Salem.

Officers seized more than nine pounds of fentanyl. This equates to around two million potentially lethal doses.

There were also hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, other drugs and dozens of guns.

The group is part of a fentanyl and methamphetamine ring based in the U.S.-Mexico border area of ​​Imperial Valley, California, where Mendoza lived.

But a prosecutor told me some of those drugs were likely destined for Portland's streets.

They say it took a coordinated removal by more than 400 federal, state and local agencies in Salem, California and Arizona.

“This is a long-term wiretap investigation. So we had to obtain numerous rounds of federal wiretaps targeting this network. And from there we identified other cells of the organization who were affiliated,” Kevin Mokhtari, Assistant United States Attorney. Southern District of California, told KATU.

The charges include drug trafficking, firearms and money laundering offenses. Mendoza faces life in prison.

Tonight at 11, KATU will have details on a Border Patrol agent who was also arrested and what led the agents to Mendoza in Salem.