Scott Swanson
and Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Twelve people were arrested Thursday, July 6, during a series of eight early-morning search warrants executed by a variety of law enforcement agencies in Sweet Home and several other Linn County communities.
The operation was the result of nearly three years of work by multiple agencies, officials said.
“This is huge,” said Sweet Home Police Chief Bob Burford, whose department had all of its officers involved.
“It was a major ring,” Sweet Home Det. Jeff Lynn said. The investigation focused on upper-level dealers.
“All the dope was coming up out of Mexico,” Lynn said.
Three residences were targeted within the Sweet Home city limits – 615 8th Ave., 1590 Elm St. and 530 Surrey Lane.
In addition, searches and arrests were made at two other local residences outside the city limits – 35877 Courtney Creek Road, on the Brownsville end of the road, and 39606 Mountain Home Drive.
Two people were arrested at 615 8th Ave. Connie Roxanne Pierce, 39, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, while Dawn Marie Favela, 41, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamines and endangering the welfare of a minor, Jeff Lynn said.
Richard Francis Burnside, 43, was arrested at 1590 Elm St. He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of methamphetamines, Lynn said.
He said no arrests have been made yet at the Surrey Lane address.
Arrested at the Mountain Home address were Noah Wible, 29, Christopher Kennedy, 33, and Dean E. Winkler, 40, Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Greene said. He said Wible was charged with possession of forged instruments and possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine); Kennedy was charged with 1st degree forgery; and Winkler was charged with possession of a forged instrument and frequenting a place where drugs were used.
Greene said about $8,000 in counterfeit money was found at the Mountain Home Drive residence.
No arrests have been made at the Courtney Creek location. Greene and Lynn said the investigation is continuing and that more arrests are probable.
“There are still a lot of charges pending,” Lynn said.
The sweep was headed by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which has been conducting a three-year investigation targeting members of the Bartolo Favela-Gonzales methamphetamine trafficking organization, which “is responsible for transporting and distributing large quantities of methamphetamine from Mexico to western Oregon.”
“We were just focusing on the upper level dealers,” Lynn said. This group is allegedly a layer or two under the Mexican upper echelons. “These guys sell pounds whereas people on the street are buying grams.”
A pound of meth will sell for $8,000 to $9,000 per pound, Lynn said. This group was the predominant supplier in east Linn County.
Some 60 local law enforcement officers were involved in the sweeps, which began about 6 a.m. A DEA helicopter circled over Sweet Home for about 15 minutes as officers moved in to secure the sites.
In addition to DEA agents, officers from Sweet Home Police Department, Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Lebanon Police Department, Oregon State Police, U.S. Marshal Service, Regional Organized Crime Narcotics Team and Portland Police Bureau participated in the action.
Enforcement operations also took place in Brownsville, Lebanon, Albany and Gresham.
As of Friday, the DEA reported, 16 people had been arrested and more than 25 pounds of high-purity methamphetamine, $142,000 in cash and numerous vehicles and firearms had been seized.
About 2 1/2 pounds of the meth was found in the Sweet Home area, Lynn said. A gram of meth is a minimum of four uses, and a single ounce has 28 grams. That’s approximately 4,480 uses.
Greene said an additional $50,000 was seized in Linn County, along with the $8,000 in counterfeit money, more than 2 pounds of methamphetamines and 35 firearms.
“The continued arrest of this organization’s members will bring their devastating impact against our communities to an end,” said Rodney G. Benson, special agent in charge of the Seattle Field Division of the DEA.
“Methamphetamine has wreaked havoc against communities throughout the Willamette Valley for too long. The combined law enforcement efforts demonstrated throughout this investigation has clearly disrupted and dismantled this organization.”
“For an area like Sweet Home and Lebanon, we made a difference,” said Bob Peters, resident agent in charge of the DEA’s Eugene office. “We took out some pretty significant people in your community.”
Lynn said cooperation between agencies was a key to the operation’s success. He said having the DEA involved provided personnel and funding that was critical to building the case. The agency’s participation made it possible to do undercover work, surveillance, check phone and criminal records and provided funding needed to make drug buys.
“We were fortunate to be involved in it from the beginning,” Lynn said. “It was a unique experience for Linn County.
“Countless man-hours, sometimes 10 to 15 people a day, were working on this investigation.”
He said the investigation began near the end of 2003, while the anti-drug cooperative effort VALIANT was still in existence. After VALIANT was dissolved, Sweet Home Police Department continued the investigation. Sweet Home investigators were “getting into quantities that were out of our budget.”
Sweet Home asked the DEA to get involved, Lynn said, and “they kind of spearheaded” the operation after that.
“It takes a lot of time to develop enough information because they typically deal with fewer and fewer people,” Lynn said of this level of the meth trade.
“It was a significant investigation, 2 1/2 years worth. That’s a significant time to be watching people, and it finally came to a head.”
Lynn often tells concerned citizens at seminars and public meetings that police officers do use the information they provide to catch meth dealers, but it can sometimes take years to develop the information.
“For months, we had neighborhood complaints we were dealing with,” Lynn said. “It’s just like I said. It’s not a quick thing.”
Neighbors complained about frequent, short-stay traffic at some of the homes, Lynn said.
Greene echoed other officers’ statements about the message they hope the operation sends.
“Success breeds success,” he said. “We’re hoping this will bring us more business. We’re putting a dent in it. We’re hurting them.”
Still, just days after the sweep, meth suppliers are getting the drugs back into the local market, Lynn said. When someone has $8,000 to buy a pound of meth, suppliers will find a way to get it to him.