Drug Distribution in The Wake of Eugene Drug Bust

Two hundred and sixty pounds of methamphetamine, 16 pounds of heroin and six pounds of fentanyl were among the many items seized in a drug bust that took place in Eugene, federal prosecutors announced on Oct. 29. The bust was coordinated by many enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal level.

The investigation resulted in the arrests of 34 individuals and the confiscation of $750,000 in cash used to facilitate drug transactions, 76 firearms, one hand grenade and multiple vehicles as well as the drugs. The United States Attorney’s Office revealed in a press statement that the individuals arrested were a part of a major international drug trafficking organization.

Eugene was the hub for a vast number of distribution branches across Oregon and beyond, according to Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner.

“It always shocks me a little bit that people don’t believe or haven’t come to terms with the fact that when you’re a community our size on the I-5 corridor, you’re the perfect component for a hub-and-spoke-type of distribution operation when you’re dealing with drug trafficking organizations,” Skinner said. A hub-and spoke operation refers to a central figure (hub) distributing operations to a number of co-conspirators (spokes) to extend the range of an operation.

Skinner noted a few different implications that this drug bust could have on the community, the first being the decrease in drug circulation in Eugene and surrounding areas that may be home to distribution branches.

“Anytime you take off a drug trafficking organization of this size, there’s going to be positive repercussions throughout not only the local community, but the extended communities that were kind of in the pipeline or on the spokes of this particular hub,” Skinner said.

Skinner said, however, that when a drug trafficking ring of this size is taken down, the expectation is that someone will take its place. The Eugene Police Department’s next steps include keeping track of the movement of controlled substances in order to better identify any trends that indicate a new drug trafficking hub, he said.

The fact that Eugene no longer has a dedicated drug enforcement division makes it more attractive to set up a drug trafficking hub, according to Skinner. The Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) previously took part in identifying and dismantling hubs like the one that was recently taken down.

INET disbanded in 2016 due to a lack of resources, Eugene District Attorney Patty Perlow wrote in an email. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office could no longer provide a team member, Eugene Police had to cut back a member and smaller area agencies couldn’t provide members.

“There weren’t enough team members to conduct the investigations safely or effectively,” Perlow said.

Skinner said limited resources and the absence of INET have made it difficult for the Eugene Police Department to stay on top of organized drug-related crimes in the area.

“We’ve just been under-staffed. We’ve been trying to just keep up with our calls for service and have not been able to do that,” Skinner said. “Just recently, with the formation of the street crimes unit, we’ve even had a chance to address some of our lower- to mid-level drug, narcotics and control substance issues.”

Skinner said that the street crimes unit was not a replacement for INET. According to Skinner, there is a gap that they need to be thinking about how to fill in order to prevent these kinds of drug trafficking hubs from growing once again in the community.