PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man was charged in federal court Thursday after Portland Police Bureau say he was caught dealing powdered fentanyl and prescription pills in downtown Portland.
Authorities say a police officer saw Beaverton resident Yexon Efrain Mendez-Zuniga, 19, dealing the drugs on Feb. 22 around 10:40 a.m. near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Washington Street.
Officers also say they saw Mendez-Zuniga using a handheld radio to “communicate with other accomplices in the area.”
When two officers approached Mendez-Zuniga near Director’s Park on Yamhill Street, authorities say he ran away but was shortly arrested while carrying two clear baggies of pills, some fentanyl powder, a loaded 9mm handgun and cash.
According to PPD, Mendez-Zuniga had once worked as a roofer and told officers in an interview that he started selling approximately 300 $2 pills a day with the powdered fentanyl the week prior in order to make more money than his previous job.
Investigators say they estimate that Mendez-Zuniga sold 2,100 counterfeit pills with fentanyl over the course of that week.
Mendez-Zuniga will make his first appearance in federal court this week, officials say.
