Two Madras Men Arrested for Drugs

Press release from the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) Team, March 25, m2023

On March 15th, 2023, at approximately 10:30 AM, detectives with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team and Special Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Israel Sarabia, 29, and Sebastian Norato, 22, of Madras, Oregon, during an ongoing investigation.

CODE and DEA investigated a report that Serabia and Norato were importing large quantities of controlled substances into the central Oregon area from Mexico.

On March 15th, 2023, CODE and DEA, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and Oregon State Police, executed simultaneous federal search warrants at a home on the 300 block of Timothy Drive in Culver and an apartment on the 200 block of Jefferson Street in Madras.

During the searches, agents seized commercial quantities of counterfeit oxycodone pills believed to contain fentanyl. In addition, cocaine, methamphetamine, three pistols and five rifles were also seized.

The counterfeit pills are meant to look like common pharmaceutical-grade painkiller oxycodone. However, these fake pills contain fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine but up to 100 times more potent. The cheap, counterfeit pills containing fentanyl are fueling an increase in fatal drug overdoses across Oregon. visit www.Dea.gov/OnePill for more information.

This case has been forwarded to the United States Attorney’s Office in Portland, charging consideration.

Both Sarabia and Norato were lodged in the Multnomah County Adult Jail with the following federal charges;

Violations of Title 21, 846, 841, & 843 – Conspiracy to Distribute & Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fentanyl.

This investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are expected. Therefore, limited information is available for release at this time. 

The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program and the following Central Oregon law enforcement agencies:  Bend Police Department, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police Department,  Prineville Police Department, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Madras Police Department, Oregon State Police, Sunriver Police Department, Black Butte Police Department, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Warm Springs Tribal Police Department, Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson County District Attorney’s, and the Oregon National Guard.

The Oregon-Idaho HIDTA program is an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) sponsored counterdrug grant program that coordinates and provides funding resources to multi-agency drug enforcement task forces to disrupt or dismantle local, multi-state and international drug trafficking organizations.