Attorney General John Kroger today announced that the Oregon Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Unit won a conviction of two major Willamette Valley methamphetamine traffickers.

“Meth is devastating Oregon families,” Attorney General Kroger said. “The Department of Justice will do everything it can to put the traffickers of this terrible drug in prison.”

A Benton County Jury late Thursday convicted Efren Moreno-Vasquez and Raul Oropeza-Juarez of one count of Unlawful Distribution of Methamphetamine each. They face likely sentences of at least three years in prison under Measure 57, the voter-approved initiative that toughened sentences for drug and property crimes. Before Measure 57, the two men could have been sentenced to probation.

The evidence at trial showed that Moreno-Vasquez and Oropeza-Juarez operated a major meth distribution center out of a house in Monroe, which is near Corvallis. One street dealer testified that he purchased for resale one ounce of meth once a day, five days a week for four months. That’s more than 5,000 doses of meth worth approximately $160,000 in street sales.

Prosecutors alleged that the distribution center had been operating for years and at least half a dozen street dealers regularly bought drugs from the house.

The house was busted in January by a Drug Enforcement Administration task force. In addition to 7 ounces of meth, they found two firearms.

Sr. Assistant Attorney General Andrew Campbell from the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Unit prosecuted the case

Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department’s mission is to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare, and defend the rights of all Oregonians.

Contact:

Tony Green, (503) 378-6002 tony.green@doj.state.or.us |