Federal and local law enforcement have seized more than 90 guns and made 17 arrests during a five-week mission called “Cascade Reign,” targeting alleged drug dealers and gun traffickers.
Investigators made undercover buys from dealers of fentanyl, and methamphetamine, powder and crack cocaine, police said.
Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration and local police departments, confiscated 97 guns, including handguns, shotguns and one machine gun, and seized more than 100 pounds of drugs, federal officials said.
Individuals were indicted on charges ranging from distribution of drugs and gun trafficking to transferring firearms for use in a felony and possessing guns in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Federal agents said they worked collaboratively with local police to try to reduce violent crime and disrupt illegal gun trafficking in areas of Portland that have been most impacted.
“Every gun seized off of our streets is a life saved. Every gram or ounce of an illegal narcotic taken from our neighborhoods is a life saved,” Oregon U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford said during a Monday press conference.
During the news briefing, held in his office with federal and local partners, Bradford praised the collaboration between federal and local agencies. He also called the issue personal, noting that a nephew of his was a victim of recent gun violence in the city.
“We know that drug trafficking and gun violence go hand in hand,” said Robert Saccone, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Seattle division.
While homicides are down in Portland, there was an uptick in shootings in Portland in the late spring and summer months, which police sought to address “as soon as it started to increase,” Bradford said.
“We’ve seen our homicide rates go down, our violent crime rates go down. But now is not the time to let off the gas,” he said.
One man who was arrested last week, Ryan O’Neil Grant, 40, is accused of selling cocaine to undercover agents outside of AJ’s Gentleman’s Club, a strip club on Southeast Stark Street where Grant worked as a DJ, according to a federal affidavit.
When federal agents and police last week obtained a search warrant and raided his residence and other locations he frequented in Portland and Beaverton, they seized eight guns and about 250 pounds of marijuana. Prosecutor Lewis Burkhart called the marijuana haul “an extraordinary amount” during Grant’s appearance in federal court Friday afternoon.
Federal agents working undercover bought cocaine from Grant six times between September and October, according to the affidavit. During one of the purchases, Grant told an undercover agent that he received weekly shipments of around a kilogram of cocaine from the East Coast, the affidavit alleges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Armistead ordered Grant to remain in custody pending trial, despite his defense lawyer’s pleas to allow his pretrial release so he could continue to care for his three young children, ages 11, 7 and 1, calling the arrest his “wakeup call.”
Armistead said he understood the concern about Grant’s children, but added, “Where was his concern before we got here today?”
Grant is accused of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Working with the DEA, ATF and the FBI were Portland, Gresham, Hillsboro, Salem, Scappoose and Port of Portland police departments, as well as Multnomah County and Washington County sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Marshals Service.
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