Information published by a local newspaper in the state of Oregon indicates that Honduran citizens may be operating fentanyl trafficking networks in large cities located in the western United States.
Citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, the newspaper Willamette Week stated that US law enforcement agencies are investigating an alleged criminal organization that relies on the contribution of Hondurans to distribute large quantities of fentanyl throughout these cities.
According to information from the newspaper, operations that enabled fentanyl trafficking through these networks were identified in the cities of Seattle (state of Washington), Denver (Colorado), Portland and Oregon City (in Oregon), Oakland and California City (in California) and Salt Lake City (in Utah).
A task force identified as Group D-51, coordinated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has been investigating such cases involving these drug trafficking networks, according to information from the Willamette Week. The task force includes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Tigard and Sherwood police departments in Oregon, as well as the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
O Willamette Week reported that this organization “is suspected of importing controlled substances, including fentanyl pills, heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States, and conspiring to distribute these drugs in Oregon and Washington.”
Hondurans have been the main actors in fentanyl trafficking on the streets of San Francisco, California, in recent years, according to information published in July by the newspaper San Francisco Chronicle. One of the main reasons for the city becoming a center for this illicit trade is its “sanctuary city” policy, which offers a certain protection against the action of national immigration authorities.
Without identifying himself, a Honduran drug trafficker compared San Francisco with Honduras, stating that protection against immigration makes the American city attractive for drug trafficking. He stated to Chronicle that “many [traficantes] They look for San Francisco because it is a 'sanctuary city'”, adding that, even in the case of capture for the crime of drug trafficking, in San Francisco “you go to jail and get out”.
©2023 The Daily Signal. Published with permission. Original in English.
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