Illegal Migrant Behind Oregon Fentanyl Death Gets 7 Years in Federal Prison
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland area drug trafficker, 35-year-old.Efrain Roberto Diaz-Rangel was sentenced to federal prison yesterday for his role in distributing illicit fentanyl that played a role in the fatal overdose of a young man in Washington County. Diaz-Range is an illegal Mexican migrant.
Illegal Migrant Jailed For Fentanyl Death
Court documents indicate that the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team (WIN) launched an investigation in April 2023 after the suspected fentanyl overdose of an adult male victim in Washington County.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Interdiction Task Force (HIT), and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) joined the investigation in May 2023.
The wide availability of illicit fentanyl across Oregon has led to a significant increase in the number of overdose deaths throughout the state.
As a synthetic opioid 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin and 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, 3-milligram of fentanyl (a few grains) can kill an average adult male.
The investigators found that several people were involved in a distribution chain responsible for selling counterfeit Oxycodone pills manufactured with illicit fentanyl.
They identified Diaz-Rangel as an originating source of fentanyl in Oregon. They established that he trafficked fentanyl and heroin for a Mexico-based drug dispatcher.
As part of a controlled buy, HSI special agents arrested Diaz-Rangel on June 27, 2023, while in possession of about 1,000 counterfeit pills and a small quantity of heroin.
During a search warrant on Diaz-Rangel’s residence executed later that day, police found an additional 30,000 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, four pounds of heroin, and over $10,000 in cash.
Diaz-Rangel was charged with possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin on June 27, 2023, and pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl on March 4, this year. He was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison and four years supervised release yesterday.