A California man entrenched in a drug trafficking ring that pumped narcotics from Mexico to the streets of Portland has been slapped with a hefty prison term. Javier Sarabia, 28, from Fontana, was sentenced Wednesday to a stark 151 months behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release, in a federal clink, authorities said.
Javier Sarabia's story unfolds from a series of events beginning in April 2019, when the DEA and accompanying law enforcement bodies commenced to deeply probe a drug smuggling network sprawling from the sunbaked streets of Portland to Vancouver, Washington. As fate would have it, a traffic stop on April 22, 2019, would eventually lead to Sarabia's undoing when agents discovered $23,000 snugly tucked alongside suspicious drug ledgers in a vehicle heading for Portland. A thorough search would later reveal concealed compartments crammed with 100 pounds of crystal meth and eight pounds of heroin.
Further digging into the case unearthed connections linking Sarabia to the seized vehicle, with his duties including coordination of drug loads, operation of stash houses, and handling deliveries as a courier and sub-distributor, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon. Sarabia, caught in law enforcement's net during an unrelated stop in Chino, California on May 28, 2019, coughed up a confession to his drug trafficking dealings after cops found about ten pounds of meth in his vehicle.
Sarabia's guilt in the conspiracy was cemented when he pleaded guilty on October 18, 2023, an admission that would to eventually consign him to more than a dozen years in prison. As part of a larger indictment, Sarabia is the eleventh individual sentenced, leaving one final defendant still at large, the Justice Department reported.
This extensive drug operation and subsequent convictions stem from diligent work by the DEA and Tigard Police Department, highlighting the persistent efforts to curb the flow of illegal drugs into communities. With Sarabia's sentencing, one more chapter in this lengthy investigation draws to a close, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon spearheading the prosecution.
