PORTLAND, Ore. – An Oregon man will spend nearly 20 years behind bars for trafficking sixty pounds of methamphetamine.
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office said in November of 2017, an Eastern Oregon narcotics team started working with Oregon State Police and the FBI during an investigation into the activities of Abel Lomas Murillo of Weston, Oregon.
According to court documents, Murillo’s older brother was involved in transporting drugs from Vacaville, California to Klamath Falls, Oregon. There, a courier would deliver the drugs to Murillo.
Prosecutors said Murillo also made multiple trips to Medford to pick up drugs he’d later take to Morrow and Umatilla Counties for distribution.
In January 2018, an OSP trooper caught one of Murillo’s associates near Klamath Falls. The courier was transporting 11 packages containing more than eight kilograms of methamphetamine.
A few months later, prosecutors said Murillo hired another courier to transport meth from Medford to Boardman, Oregon.
After helping the courier load a trailer in Medford, Murillo followed closely behind the transport vehicle to minimize his own risk. However, both the courier and Murillo were stopped in the early morning hours of May 6, 2018, as they drove on Interstate 84.
The D.A.’s office said investigators seized 42 packages of methamphetamine, adding up to a total weight of 17.6 grams.
Later that day, investigators searched Murillo’s residence and found 29 firearms and body armor. An additional 10 pounds of meth and five firearms were found in Medford a storage locker Murillo visited before getting caught.
On April 15, 2019, Murillo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Murillo was sentenced on September 10 to 235 months in federal prison and five years of probation.
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