A 26-year-old man accused of dealing fentanyl out of a secluded stretch of bike path in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood is now sitting in county jail without bail, after federal agents say they watched customers circle him just after midnight while he held a white brick of drugs in his left hand. Gerson Hernandez-Ramos was arrested shortly after midnight on Friday, August 21, near the bike path between Southwest 16th and 18th Avenues, in an arrest that federal authorities note fell on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.
According to court records cited by OregonLive, investigators watched Hernandez-Ramos holding the white brick before moving in, and the arrest was carried out by Portland police and the FBI working together near the downtown bike corridor. Police seized roughly half a pound of fentanyl along with three separate bags of the drug, a digital scale, packaging material, two cell phones and two walkie-talkies, per the same account. Hernandez-Ramos reportedly went by the street name “Minor” and is accused of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
FBI Agent Bobby Gutierrez reported that a confidential informant helped investigators identify Hernandez-Ramos in the first place, and court documents allege he had previously sold fentanyl near the Plaid Pantry and Safeway at Southwest 11th Avenue and Jefferson Street. That downtown stretch has drawn sustained neighborhood complaints over open-air drug transactions occurring near a local church preschool, as KGW has reported. Goose Hollow itself, where the bike path arrest happened, sits as an urban residential and commercial corridor immediately west of downtown along the MAX Light Rail line.
Held Without Bail Under Federal Detainer
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Jelderks ordered Hernandez-Ramos held in custody pending trial on Monday, and the article notes his defense lawyer did not seek his immediate release. Multnomah County inmate records show he was booked into county custody the same day, where he now remains held without bail under a U.S. Marshals detainer, according to Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office records…