4-10-2007

It's not every day you see a few dozen balloons of Heroin and $20,000 cash in small bills.

I did today.

Gresham's had a rising drug problem in recent years but officers feel they put a dent in it with a big bust. It started a few weeks back when an officer executing a traffic stop discovered balloons of heroin in the car. Investigators followed the trail to 26 year old Jaime Venezuela-Pena, the man believed to be at the top of a drug ring.

As the search continued, Venezuela-Pena's cell phone was seized and officers used it to intercept five MORE people in the process of buying drugs. In total, three men on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement holds are facing charges, five are waiting to hear back from a grand jury in terms of potential charges.

Mean time, Police Chief Carla Piluso says they believe this operation is responsible for 14,000 balloons of Heroin a week (the average addict requires 1-2 a day at $15-20 a piece). The results of the seizure were put on display at Police Headquarters (you can see video on KXL.com)

More arrests could be on the way.