In what U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the “largest fentanyl bust” in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a 36-year-old Salem man was taken into custody on April 28.
According to Bondi, the individual was in charge of a narcotics trafficking network that operated in multiple states as of May 6. He and fifteen other people were taken into custody.
Conspiracy, distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute, and possession of a handgun in connection with a narcotics trafficking offense are among the allegations against them.
More than a dozen of those arrested were indicted by a federal grand jury on April 24.
Bondi claimed the group has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican-based organization well-known for being a significant fentanyl manufacturer and distributor.
A U.S. district attorney filed a plea for detention alleging that DEA officers carried out a “coordinated takedown” spanning five states on April 28. According to the motion, arrests were made in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, and New Mexico.
According to the motion, DEA investigators found over 4 million pills laced with fentanyl, about $4.5 million in cash, 79 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.5 kilos of heroine, 7.5 kilograms of cocaine, 11.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, around 41 firearms, and seven cars.
Agents in Salem confiscated about $2.8 million in cash, approximately $50,000 worth of jewels, and a $150,000 Mercedes AMG and Ford F-150.
“With him, they got millions of dollars cash, cars, but the drugs were in Albuquerque, Phoenix and Utah,” Bondi said of the Salem man arrested. “That’s how insulated these drug dealer cartel leaders make themselves.”
According to Bondi, those who are arrested will not be deported if found guilty; instead, they will stay in American prisons.
According to the motion, the DEA had been looking into the group since 2024.
The Salem man “receiving orders for drugs from drug customers and dispatching couriers to deliver the drugs” was the focal point of the organization, according to the motion.
The lawyer claimed that in order to arrange large deliveries over multiple cities, the Salem guy planned the couriers’ daily routines.
Additional charges against the Salem man include conspiracy to harbor undocumented migrants, unlawful employment as an unauthorized worker, and illegal entry into the country after a prior deportation.
According to Ryan Ellison, the U.S. District Attorney for New Mexico, the man had direct connections to the cartel and had already been deported twice.
The U.S. District Attorney of New Mexico’s spokesman, Tessa DuBerry, stated that the man was taken into custody at a Salem home, although she did not know the exact location. According to DuBerry, Salem Police helped DEA agents. In 2025, she claimed, the man was “spotted” in Oregon.
According to records, the individual was released to U.S. Marshals on April 30 after being arrested on April 28 at Portland’s Multnomah County Jail. The Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution was where he was being detained. His arraignment has not yet been set.
