Federal and local law enforcement agencies wrapped up a five-week operation around Portland that led to 17 arrests, the seizure of 97 firearms and more than 100 pounds of drugs, authorities announced. Investigators said the haul included handguns, shotguns and one machine gun, along with undercover drug buys spanning fentanyl, methamphetamine, powder cocaine and crack cocaine.
The initiative, dubbed Cascade Reign, was led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in partnership with the DEA, according to The Oregonian. The report states that undercover investigators made buys directly from dealers of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and both powder and crack cocaine over the course of the operation.
Wide Net Across Portland-Area Agencies
The operation drew in police departments from Portland, Gresham, Hillsboro, Salem, Scappoose and the Port of Portland, along with two county sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Marshals Service, per the same account. Separately, Gorge News Center reported that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon and ATF carried out the operation working with the DEA and additional federal and local law enforcement partners.
Individuals swept up in Cascade Reign were indicted on charges ranging from drug distribution to gun trafficking, the station’s report notes, including transferring firearms for use in a felony and possessing guns in furtherance of drug trafficking.
One Suspect’s Haul: Eight Guns, 250 Pounds of Marijuana
Among those named is 40-year-old Ryan O’Neil Grant, accused of selling cocaine to undercover agents and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. A search of Grant’s residence and other locations turned up eight guns and about 250 pounds of marijuana, according to the article.
Cascade Reign is the latest chapter in a broader federal fentanyl-enforcement push in the Portland area that authorities say dates back to 2023. Known as the Portland Project, that effort began as a response to open-air drug markets downtown, according to KATU, which first reported the Portland-area trafficking investigation.
Years-Long Crackdown Has Expanded Beyond Downtown
Federal authorities said in August that the Portland Project had seized more than 100 kilograms of fentanyl, 40 guns and more than $1.3 million in cash since it began, with more than 100 people arrested and federally prosecuted, KATU reported. Officials said at the time that the crackdown was expanding beyond downtown into other neighborhoods, treatment centers and public housing.
That expansion has also meant new partnerships with agencies in Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties, as authorities said drug activity shifted into neighboring communities. The pattern tracks with other enforcement actions across the region, including a prior multi-agency fentanyl operation in Portland in April 2025 that the DEA said resulted in dozens of arrests and the seizure of drugs, firearms and cash.
