PORTLAND, Ore.— A Mexican national unlawfully residing in the United States was sentenced to federal prison last week for conspiring to distribute over 20 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 800 grams of fentanyl pills.
Carlos Manuel Perez Lopez, 43, was sentenced to 136 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release.
“Bulk narcotics distributors like Carlos Manuel Perez Lopez profiteer from the misery of their customers’ addictions,” said Scott E. Bradford, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Multi-agency collaboration and coordination between state and federal authorities are a powerful force multiplier in combatting narcotics traffickers. This investigation is a shining example of how combined federal and state enforcement efforts can thwart drug traffickers’ efforts to poison our community. Drug dealers in Oregon are on notice.”
“Mr. Perez Lopez put profits ahead of human life by distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine into our communities,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “DEA and our partners are relentlessly pursuing those responsible, disrupting the supply chain, and bringing traffickers to justice. Every fentanyl seizure represents lives protected. Through Fentanyl Free America, we remain committed to making our communities safer and building a future free from the threat of fentanyl.”
According to court documents, in September 2024, DEA task force investigators identified Perez Lopez as a large-scale local drug distributor.
On September 13, 2024, after learning Perez Lopez was expecting to receive a drug shipment, investigators followed Perez Lopez to a meeting at a truck stop in Aurora, Oregon, where Perez Lopez met briefly with two men near a blue semi-truck bearing license plates from Mexico and a Texas temporary tag.
Investigators stopped Perez Lopez near Tigard, Oregon. Perez Lopez was the driver and sole occupant of the Camry. Investigators detained Perez Lopez and then searched the car after a drug detecting canine alerted to the presence of narcotics in the car. Below is a photo of the drugs that were seized from the trunk:
Inside the Camry, investigators seized over 20 kilograms of methamphetamine and 820.4 gross grams of fentanyl pills.
Meanwhile other investigators were following the semi-truck as it traveled northbound on I-5 from the truck stop. Soon after investigators stopped Perez Lopez, the semi-truck left the highway and parked at a public rest stop near Wilsonville, Oregon, barely three miles from the truck stop. The occupants of the semi-truck fled the truck, leaving it running and abandoned at the rest stop. Investigators lawfully searched the cab of the truck where they found and later seized approximately 209.68 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in suitcases. Below is an image of the drugs seized from the semi-truck: