On November 16, 2022, at approximately 10:30 p.m., an Oregon State Police Senior Trooper stopped a passenger car for failure to drive within its lane of travel on Interstate 5 northbound near milepost 227 south of Albany. During the traffic stop, the Trooper noticed signs of criminal activity and requested consent to search, which was granted by the occupants of the vehicle. During a search of the vehicle, the Trooper located five large plastic bags, approximately 12 lbs., of suspected fentanyl pills concealed in the trunk of the vehicle. The driver was identified as Jose Manuel Gonzalez Obeso (22) and the passenger was identified as Carla Joanna Castillo Arce (18) both from Scottsdale, Arizona. Both subjects were released after being interviewed about their involvement and charges will be referred to the United States Attorney’s Office. OSP Troopers were assisted during the investigation by Detectives from the OSP-Criminal Investigations Division-Drug Enforcement Section (Domestic Highway Enforcement Initiative), Special Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration – Salem Resident Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon – Portland Office. The Oregon State Police-Domestic Highway Enforcement Initiative is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Oregon-Idaho HIDTA program is an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) sponsored counterdrug grant program that coordinates with and provides funding resources to multi-agency drug enforcement initiatives, including the OSP-DHE Initiative.
