Criminal Alien of the Week Report January, 18 2024
Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report
January 18, 2024
The “Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report” in the third week of January 2024 has for your radio listeners and webpage followers a report on two foreign nationals who have been federally charged with drug trafficking in a U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon.
Some background information, on Friday, May 19, 2023 the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon (USAODO), issued a news release titled “Two Honduran Nationals Residing in Gresham Indicted for Roles in Fentanyl Trafficking Conspiracy” who the main subjects of interest were Kevin Martinez-Avila (U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon Court Case Number: 3:23-cr-00159) and Allen Moya-Vargas (U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon Court Case Number: 3:23-cr-00159).
Here is an extended excerpt from USAODO’s May 19, 2023 news release on Kevin Martinez-Avila and Allen Moya-Vargas:
“PORTLAND, Ore.—Two Honduran Nationals residing in Gresham, Oregon have been indicted in federal court for transporting hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and several pounds of powdered fentanyl from California to Portland for resale.
Kevin Martinez-Avila, 27, and Allen Moya-Vargas, 29, have been charged with conspiring with one another and others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to court documents, in February 2023, investigators from the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team (WIN) learned a drug courier from California was transporting a large load of fentanyl to somewhere in or around Portland. On February 22, 2023, WIN investigators located the courier’s vehicle and followed it to a residence in Gresham. Soon after, investigators observed Martinez-Avila drive away from the residence. They stopped his vehicle, searched it pursuant to a state search warrant, and located 47 grams of powdered fentanyl.
Inside the Gresham residence, investigators located Moya-Vargas, 150,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and more than seven pounds of powdered fentanyl. Investigators believe the residence was being used by Martinez-Avila and Moya-Vargas’ drug trafficking organization to unload and store fentanyl brought to the Portland area before it was distributed to others.
Both men made their initial appearances in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo. They were arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and ordered detained pending a jury trial scheduled to begin on June 27, 2023.
If convicted, Martinez-Avila and Moya-Vargas face maximum sentences of life in federal prison with 10-year mandatory minimum sentences.
This case was investigated by WIN. It is being prosecuted by Scott M. Kerin, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
WIN includes representatives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Beaverton and Hillsboro Police Departments, Oregon National Guard Counter Drug Program, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations.” – U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon.
Not disclosed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon’s news release but included in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon Court records (Case Number: 3:23-cr-00159-SI) was information that Kevin Martinez-Avila and Allen Moya-Vargas were illegal aliens in deportation proceedings before being brought back into federal court.
While awaiting trial, Kevin Martinez-Avila and Allen Moya-Vargas are being incarcerated at two separate locations.
Kevin Martinez-Avila (BOP: Register Number: 60077-510) on January 2, 2024 was incarcerated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at Sheridan FCI located in Sheridan, Oregon.
Allen Moya-Vargas (NORCOR: Local Number: 2301302) on January 2, 2024 was incarcerated by the Northern Oregon Corrections (NORCOR) in The Dalles, Oregon.
Seeking more detailed information immigration status of Kevin Martinez-Avila and Allen Moya-Vargas on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 the “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” contacted via e-mail U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Public Affairs for the Northwest Region.
On Thursday, January 16, 2024an ICE Public Affairs Officer (PAO) responded via e-mail with the following statement on Allan Moya-Vargas:
“ICE officers make enforcement decisions on a case-by-case basis in a professional and responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement officials and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland.
ON BACKGROUND:
Allan Moya-Vargas, 30, is a citizen of Honduras unlawfully present in the U.S. Vargas-Moya was removed to Honduras by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Aug. 3 2012, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered him near Falfurrias, Texas July 3, 2012, determining he had entered the U.S. illegally without inspection by an immigration official. ERO Seattle has a current immigration detainer with the U.S. Marshals Service as Vargas-Moya is facing charges related to possession and distribution of fentanyl according to an indictment May 9, 2023, by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.
### – ICE Public Affairs Spokesperson.
If in the near future Honduran Nationals Kevin Martinez-Avila and Allen Moya-Vargas are both criminal convicted and sentenced for drug crimes in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon they will join more than 24-thousand criminal aliens incarcerated in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prison system.
For “Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report” radio listeners and website followers interested in learning about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), federal anti- drug trafficking role they should visit the HSI webpage titled “Strategy For Combating Illicit Opioids.”
A special thank you goes out once again to the ICE Public Affairs team who continues to contribute significant information to help make the “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” possible.
Lars, the third week of January 2024 and another “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” for Lars Larson Show KXL FM 101.1 Pacific Northwest radio listeners and website followers.
David Olen Cross (docfnc) is a reporter on foreign national crime. He is a more than decade long contributor to the “Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report.” His past crime reporting can be found at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/.
https://docfnc.wordpress.com/