4 minutes

Dennis Katsnelson

On a quiet Sunday morning, a traffic stop on Interstate 5 near Salem, Oregon led to the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker. The driver, 22-year-old Miguel Cruz-Barrales was stopped by an Oregon State Police trooper for a traffic violation. However, upon questioning, the trooper noticed signs of criminal activity and requested consent to search the vehicle. Cruz-Barrales denied consent but admitted to bringing in marijuana from California.

We took this video from KPTV FOX 12 Oregon YouTube Channel.

Despite the denial, the trooper brought in K-9 Titan to search the vehicle, and the dog alerted to a large duffel bag in the trunk. Inside the bag, troopers found an astonishing 51 pounds of methamphetamine, 31 pounds of powdered fentanyl, nine pounds of cocaine, and two pounds of heroin. The total street value of the drugs is estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

Cruz-Barrales was immediately taken into custody and charged with possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. He made his first federal court appearance on Monday and will remain in jail until further court proceedings. The U.S. Attorney's Office District of Oregon is leading the investigation, and no other details have been released at this time.

This arrest is a significant win for law enforcement agencies, who have been working tirelessly to combat the growing drug trafficking problem in the state. The discovery of such a large quantity of drugs highlights the severity of the problem and the need for continued vigilance and enforcement.

Drug trafficking has become a serious problem in Oregon, and the state has seen a spike in drug-related deaths in recent years.