Men from California busted with 'huge' amount of meth in Oregon, officials say

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two men from California were arrested for traveling with 21 pounds of meth in Douglas County. on Dec. 31, detectives with the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team (DINT) said.

Detectives found the meth after stopping the suspects’ GMC pickup truck in Canyonville near the intersection of Main Street and Chief Miwaleta Lane at 4 a.m. The suspects, 46-year-old Marcus Fuentes and 39-year-old Stela Vigue were both booked into the Douglas County Jail for the unlawfully possessing, manufacturing and delivering methamphetamine.

“Twenty-one pounds is a huge amount of methamphetamine,” DINT said. “The average user dose of methamphetamine is 1 gram or less. Twenty-one pounds is approximately 9,525 grams.”

The truck was stopped because detectives with DINT had reason to believe the suspects were traveling with a large amount of meth. The joint task force, which is manned by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Roseburg Police Department, Oregon State Police, Bureau of Land Management and the Douglas County District Attorney's Office, states that it “identifies, disrupts, and dismantles” local, out-of-state and international drug-trafficking organizations. 

“Detectives suspected the vehicle contained a large load of methamphetamine being delivered here from California,” DINT said. “Detectives quickly obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and inside the passenger compartment they found approximately 21 pounds of suspected methamphetamine packaged in one pound bundles, along with a semi-automatic handgun.”

Fuentes, who is a convicted felon, was also booked on an additional charge for possession of the semi-automatic handgun.