A traffic stop south of Wilsonville on Aug. 5 turned into a major narcotics bust, with investigators pulling more than a kilogram of concentrated fentanyl bricks from a vehicle. The stop was coordinated by the Clackamas County Interagency Task Force, and deputies say the drugs were split across several bags found during a search of the car.
According to the Clackamas Sheriff, deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and Wilsonville Police Department located the fentanyl bricks after stopping the vehicle. The task force, known as CCITF, is led by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and describes its mission as disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations operating in and around the county while reducing illegal drugs and related crime in the community. Sheriff Angela Brandenburg heads the office that runs the task force.
CCITF is a multi-agency operation that also includes the Canby Police Department, Oregon State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Oregon National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, per the same account. The task force relies on funding from the Public Safety Levy along with grant money from the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.
What a Kilogram of Fentanyl Really Means
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid typically distributed in powder or pill form, and concentrated bricks like the ones seized south of Wilsonville can be pressed into large numbers of counterfeit pills made to resemble legitimate prescription medication, the task force said. Because illegally manufactured fentanyl products are not subject to legal manufacturing standards, concentration can vary significantly from batch to batch — a variability that increases the risk of overdose, officials noted…