Authorities concluded an 18-month drug investigation this week when nine search warrants were served simultaneously in Grants Pass and Josephine County.
On Tuesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Oregon State Police, Grants Pass Police Department and multiple interagency narcotics teams served warrants resulting in 24 arrests and the seizure of 37 firearms and $33,000 in cash as the culmination of the lengthy investigation into a local drug trafficking organization.
According to OSP, the search warrants also resulted in the seizure of 2,000 grams of methamphetamine, 636 grams of fentanyl pills, 52 grams of fentanyl powder, 58 grams of cocaine, 250 pounds of marijuana and some illegal mushrooms.
Detectives said the investigation had already yielded 40 pounds of meth, 9.25 pounds of fentanyl, three pounds of cocaine and a half-pound of heroin over the course of 18 months. They said these quantities are significant and their removal from the local distribution chain is a significant outcome of the investigation.
Very small amounts of fentanyl -- as little as two milligrams -- can be deadly. The fentanyl seized had the potential to yield more than 144,000 deadly doses. In Oregon, the DEA has seized more than 3.84 million deadly doses of fentanyl so far this year, which is double the amount seized in 2022.
The names of the two-dozen arrestees and their alleged crimes has not yet been released. The case is being prosecuted by the Josephine County District Attorney's Office.
Assisting agencies included Rogue Area Drug Enforcement (RADE), Central Point Police Department, Interagency Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET), Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team (DINT) Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET) and Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE).
