A Honduran national staying in Portland was arrested this week for possessing more than 2 kilograms of hard, rainbow-colored fentanyl that was packaged for distribution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said that Jose Isidro Zuniga Torres, 47, was charged with conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Investigators observed Mr. Zuniga and another man transporting boxes from one Portland motel to another on Monday.
The next day, police executed a search warrant at the second motel where they found eight firearms, 417 grams of counterfeit oxycodone pills that had fentanyl, 393 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 49 grams of cocaine, along with the rainbow-colored fentanyl, according to court records.
Mr. Zuniga was arrested without incident. Prosecutors said he admitted to possessing most of the drugs in the room and told authorities that he intended to wrap the guns in tinfoil and clothing to conceal them from law enforcement when shipping the firearms back to Honduras.
The suspect’s arrest is part of an ongoing investigation by multiple federal and local agencies into drug trafficking from Mexico to Oregon and Washington state.
Authorities have either charged or arrested eight people with connections to an international drug trafficking organization and seized more than five kilograms of powdered fentanyl, four and a half kilograms of heroin, three kilograms each of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, 45,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and a dozen firearms.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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