Feds seize 1.4 metric tons of liquid heroin in Oregon — enough to provide 53.3 million fatal doses: Report

Four suspected drug traffickers were arrested in Oregon after being found in possession of liquid heroin inside a moving truck, according to Fox News Digital. The suspects are believed to have links to an international crime ring in Mexico.

The authorities apprehended the men on January 25 at a motel in Tigard. Investigators were drawn to the area after they discovered several individuals who worked for the drug trafficking operation were attempting to bring illegal narcotics across the Oregon state line.

Authorities followed a rented moving truck that was driven by one of the suspects. There was also a red pickup truck that trailed behind the rented vehicle on I-84 around Bonneville until they arrived at a motel, per the report.

Investigators soon obtained a search warrant for the vehicles and motel room. They found eight 55-gallon barrels filled with 370 gallons of liquid narcotics inside the moving truck. Two loaded handguns were also discovered inside the motel room, according to prosecutors.

After testing was carried out on the liquid narcotics, it was confirmed to be heroin.

The Seattle Times reported that the suspects arrested were Santos Alisael Aguilar Maya, 32, Marco Antonio Magallion, 44, Luis Deleon Woodward, 28, and Jorge Luis Amador, 25.

All the suspects were accused of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin, according to the report. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Armistead gave pretrial release to two of the four men in the case.

Woodward's lawyer Casey Kovacic said his client did not have any connection to the U-Haul truck and only hitched a ride with a friend from Yakima to Portland in the pickup.

U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin said that the amount of heroin discovered in the barrels was "astronomical," adding that it was "[s]omething we haven't seen here in Oregon — nothing even has come close to that in the past."

He went on to estimate that the amount of heroin loaded into the moving truck would provide 53.3 million fatal doses of the drug. There were no details about where the men planned to transport the barrels.

It is unclear how much time the men could spend in jail if they are convicted of the charges.

Blaze News previously reported that the state of Oregon had considered decriminalizing hard drug use, including heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!