On July 11, 2023, investigators assigned to the Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) team received three awards from the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Traffic Area (HIDTA) and the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association (ONEA).
Team/Task Force Award for Outstanding Interstate or International Impact Investigation/Interdiction Effort – Recognizing the investigation’s disruption/dismantlement of a local drug trafficking organization and/or success in using interdiction as an effective counter-drug measure on a local level.
The Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) team identified a business storefront being used to conduct narcotics sales from the front counter. The WIN team infiltrated the storefront and identified the stash house associated with the business during the investigation. The WIN team conducted simultaneous search warrants and seized copious amounts of cocaine, LSD, Alprazolam, Adderall, MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms, ketamine, $172,453, and two firearms. From their investigative efforts, the WIN team dismantled a Drug Trafficking Organization.
Team/Task Force Award for Outstanding Local Impact Investigation/Interdiction Effort – Recognizing the investigation’s and/or interdiction effort in the disruption/dismantlement of a major interstate or international drug trafficking organization and/or success in using interdiction as an effective counter-drug measure on an interstate or international level.
In 2022, The Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) team concluded a yearlong investigation focusing on a transnational drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating up and down the western United States, responsible for numerous fatal overdoses in Oregon. This DTO was identified as part of a Mexican drug cartel dispatched out of Jalisco. WIN’s comprehensive investigative collaboration involved close work and communication with three federal agencies (Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and Customs and Border Protection), six Oregon-Idaho HIDTA initiatives, four California HIDTA initiatives, and numerous state and local law enforcement agencies. September of 2022 saw this exhaustive effort culminate in the execution of search warrants on numerous locations in Oregon, Washington, and California yielding 6,187 grams of fentanyl, 949 grams of heroin, 1,989 grams of methamphetamine, $421,000 in drug proceeds, seven firearms, body armor, silencers, and drug presses, as well as cocaine and marijuana and the dismantlement of a multi-state DTO. Over a dozen members of this DTO, including one who was wanted for murder, are currently facing federal indictments for drug trafficking with Len Bias sentence enhancements, federal firearms violations, and immigration violations.
Individual Award for Outstanding Criminal Intelligence Analyst – Recognizing the criminal intelligence analyst who has consistently developed and utilized an innovative and/or unique approach to case support for drug enforcement teams, interagency drug enforcement task forces, and/or law enforcement agencies. Additionally, a criminal intelligence analyst who has committed themself to the cooperative spirit of drug enforcement, mainly through the development and application of reciprocal intelligence sharing, is sought for recognition.
It was awarded to an Oregon National Guard Counter-Drug Program member assigned as a Counter-drug Analyst for the Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) team.
The Westside Interagency Narcotics (“WIN”) Team is an inter-agency task force comprised of personnel from the Beaverton and Hillsboro Police Departments, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon National Guard Counter-Drug Program, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
