PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland drug trafficker was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday on several drug trafficking charges after authorities found him in possession of more than 50,000 fentanyl pills, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Oregon announced.
Officials said 31-year-old Juan Jose Varela-Espinoza of Honduras was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years’ supervised release for possessing almost 16 pounds of powdered fentanyl and 57,700 fentanyl pills along with a stolen gun.
The case goes back to July 2023 when the Multnomah County Dangerous Drug Team discovered Varela-Espinoza was distributing thousands of fentanyl pills in Portland, according to court documents.
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On July 25, 2023, the U.S. Marshals Service and Multnomah County DDT arrested Varela-Espinoza on an outstanding felony warrant for distributing drugs in Colorado.
That same day, authorities searched Varela-Espinoza’s home and vehicles, where investigators found the fentanyl, stolen gun, ammunition, over $5,000 in cash and two pill press machines.
A federal grand jury in Portland charged Varela-Espinoza with conspiracy to possess and possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in August 2023.
In December 2024, Varela-Espinoza pleaded guilty to possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
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