Jose Lizarraras-Chacon and Maria Gonzalez-Torres
Posted: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 4:03 pm
Jose Lizarraras-Chacon, 38, of Nayarit, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez to 210 months (17.5 years) in prison for heroin-trafficking and illegal reentry.During the fall of 2011, the Portland Police Bureau received information from the St. Helens Police Department regarding a husband and wife team selling large quantities of heroin. Lizarraras-Chaco, along with his wife and co-defendant Maria Gonzalez-Torres, fielded phone call orders from customers for heroin. The couple would then make deliveries throughout the Portland metro area, often accompanied by their children.Earlier in 2011, the St. Helens Police Department investigated this same couple, and that evidence was charged in the federal indictment as part of the yearlong conspiracy to distribute heroin.
“During the month of February 2011, investigators with the Columbia Enforcement Narcotics Team began investigating a Mexican drug trafficking organization selling large quantities of heroin in and around the Gresham, Multnomah County area,” said St. Helens Police Detective Sgt. Phil Edwards.
Edwards said the heroin supplied by the drug trafficking organization was traced directly into the hands of local drug distribution networks in Columbia County. According to Edwards, a Columbia County source providing information to investigators admitted to the distribution of more than 47 pounds of heroin within a one-year period. The reported street value of that heroin was in excess of $1.6 million.
“Over several months investigators built their case by infiltrating the organization and developing a strategic plan designed to dismantle it,” said Edwards.
CENT is made up of investigators from the St. Helens Police Department, including Edwards, and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
The size of the drug trafficking organization led CENT to share information with the Drug Enforcement Agency and Portland Police Bureau, which helped lead to the arrest of Lizarraras-Chacon and Gonzalez-Torrez.
On Nov. 29, 2011, officers with the Portland Police Bureau’s Drugs and Vice Division arranged for a controlled purchase of heroin from the pair. Gonzalez-Torres answered the call, made the deal, and indicated they would be on their way to deliver shortly.
Surveillance officers observed the defendants leaving their apartment carrying a baby in a car seat and then enter one of the family’s vehicles. Gonzalez-Torres followed her husband into their vehicle, along with two other children (ages 7 and 4). Officers stopped the car as it was traveling towards the agreed-upon delivery location.
During the traffic stop, a female officer conducted a pat-down search of Gonzalez-Torres and located approximately five ounces of heroin concealed in her bra. There was also over $300 in the diaper bag.
“On one of the buys we set up they brought their children,” said Edwards.
Officers conducted a search of the family’s apartment on East Burnside in Gresham and seized over $84,000 in U.S. currency stashed all over the residence. Agents also seized approximately 470 grams of heroin hidden within a diaper genie and a .45 caliber semi-automatic firearm in a hall closet.
Gonzalez-Torres admitted she was involved in her husband’s heroin business and had not been legitimately employment for four years. However, she said she did receive $1,100 a month in public benefits. When asked about the large amount of cash found in her apartment, she said she and her husband were saving money to build a home in Mexico.
In 2010, Lizarraras-Chaco was convicted of unlawful delivery of heroin in Clackamas County, after which he was deported to Mexico. He returned to the U. S. illegally and continued to distribute heroin before being arrested again in 2011.
Gonzalez-Torres was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2012 and will likely be deported once she is released.
“During the month of February 2011, investigators with the Columbia Enforcement Narcotics Team began investigating a Mexican drug trafficking organization selling large quantities of heroin in and around the Gresham, Multnomah County area,” said St. Helens Police Detective Sgt. Phil Edwards.
Edwards said the heroin supplied by the drug trafficking organization was traced directly into the hands of local drug distribution networks in Columbia County. According to Edwards, a Columbia County source providing information to investigators admitted to the distribution of more than 47 pounds of heroin within a one-year period. The reported street value of that heroin was in excess of $1.6 million.
“Over several months investigators built their case by infiltrating the organization and developing a strategic plan designed to dismantle it,” said Edwards.
CENT is made up of investigators from the St. Helens Police Department, including Edwards, and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
The size of the drug trafficking organization led CENT to share information with the Drug Enforcement Agency and Portland Police Bureau, which helped lead to the arrest of Lizarraras-Chacon and Gonzalez-Torrez.
On Nov. 29, 2011, officers with the Portland Police Bureau’s Drugs and Vice Division arranged for a controlled purchase of heroin from the pair. Gonzalez-Torres answered the call, made the deal, and indicated they would be on their way to deliver shortly.
Surveillance officers observed the defendants leaving their apartment carrying a baby in a car seat and then enter one of the family’s vehicles. Gonzalez-Torres followed her husband into their vehicle, along with two other children (ages 7 and 4). Officers stopped the car as it was traveling towards the agreed-upon delivery location.
During the traffic stop, a female officer conducted a pat-down search of Gonzalez-Torres and located approximately five ounces of heroin concealed in her bra. There was also over $300 in the diaper bag.
“On one of the buys we set up they brought their children,” said Edwards.
Officers conducted a search of the family’s apartment on East Burnside in Gresham and seized over $84,000 in U.S. currency stashed all over the residence. Agents also seized approximately 470 grams of heroin hidden within a diaper genie and a .45 caliber semi-automatic firearm in a hall closet.
Gonzalez-Torres admitted she was involved in her husband’s heroin business and had not been legitimately employment for four years. However, she said she did receive $1,100 a month in public benefits. When asked about the large amount of cash found in her apartment, she said she and her husband were saving money to build a home in Mexico.
In 2010, Lizarraras-Chaco was convicted of unlawful delivery of heroin in Clackamas County, after which he was deported to Mexico. He returned to the U. S. illegally and continued to distribute heroin before being arrested again in 2011.
Gonzalez-Torres was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2012 and will likely be deported once she is released.
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