Two men and a woman face federal charges in the suspected fentanyl overdose death of a Hillsboro woman.
Police responded to a Hillsboro home on Dec 13 and found powdered fentanyl, methamphetamine and blue counterfeit oxycodone M30 pills laced with fentanyl near the body of a 49-year-old woman, according to a federal affidavit. Federal authorities did not identify the woman.
Oscar Alfredo Rivas-Mendez, 22, Yoselyn Sanchez-Estrada, 21, and Jassiel Alan Diaz-Elenes, 25, each made their first appearances in federal court on Friday in Portland. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Armistead ordered each to remain held pending trial.
The woman who died and her boyfriend had purchased a half gram of fentanyl powder for $40 from a seller they met around 10 p.m. on Dec. 12 in Hillsboro, according to the affidavit.
Police found texts on the dead woman’s cellphone and used the phone to set up a meeting with the same seller to buy $80 worth of powdered fentanyl on Dec. 14 in Hillsboro, investigators said. The seller cooperated with police and helped investigators identify his source, according to the affidavit. The immediate seller was identified by police but is not in custody.
On Wednesday, investigators executed warrants and searched a Gresham apartment on Southeast Kane Street, as well as a black Toyota Corolla and a black Mazda, the affidavit said
Officers found 1.1 grams of fentanyl powder in the bedroom of Rivas-Mendez and Sanchez-Estrada as well as more than $8,400 in cash, a drug ledger and money receipts, the affidavit said.
Sanchez-Estrada initially denied that she sold fentanyl but admitted she would accompany Rivas-Mendez during his drug sales, the affidavit said. A review of her phone messages, though, revealed communications with a drug supplier in California and she later admitted to police that she and Rivas-Mendez would buy counterfeit M30 pills for $1 each and sell them for $1.65 each, the affidavit alleged.
Rivas-Mendez told investigators that he had eight customers.
Investigators worked further to identify the couple’s supplier — the so-called “dispatcher,” the affidavit said.
Officers ordered thousands of M30 pills from the suspected dispatcher and set up a meeting spot in Multnomah County for later that day.
When Diaz-Elenes arrived in a white Hyundai sedan about 4:40 p.m. and parked, officers moved in with a drug detection dog, according to the affidavit.
They found 10,000 M30 pills with fentanyl on the front passenger seat in white plastic bag and a black lunch box behind the passenger seat that contained 2.5 grams of fentanyl powder and $10,944 in cash, the affidavit said.
When Diaz-Elenes was arrested, he had a fake driver’s license from Sinaloa, Mexico, the affidavit said.
Diaz-Elenes is charged with possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a substance containing fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a substance containing fentanyl.
Rivas-Mendez and Sanchez-Estrada are each charged with possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
State data shows 1,833 people died in Oregon from a drug overdose in 2023, compared to 1,383 in 2022, 1,189 in 2021, 824 in 2020 and 626 in 2019. The state health authority doesn’t have figures for 2024, according to its website.
— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.
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