A Southern Oregon traffic stop this week led to the seizure of large amounts of dangerous drugs.
Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement (MADGE) intercepted a vehicle on Interstate 5 south of Ashland on Tuesday evening.
MADGE investigators had received information that a vehicle was transporting large amounts of narcotics into this area. With assistance from the Oregon State Police and the Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET), detectives stopped the vehicle and Medford Police K9 "Brodie" alerted to the presence of narcotics.
A search warrant was obtained, and a search of the vehicle yielded 105 pounds of methamphetamine and 12 pounds of fentanyl.
Detectives arrested 31-year-old Cruz Bernardo Lopez-Ramos and lodged him at the Jackson County Jail for commercial drug offenses of Unlawful Possession and Distribution of Meth, and Unlawful Possession and Distribution of Fentanyl.
The MADGE team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts and dismantles local, out-of-state and international drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence-driven, prosecutor-supported approach.
MADGE is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which is a nationally-sponsored program that coordinates with and provides funding resources to multi-agency drug enforcement initiatives.
