Police officers in Portland, Oregon, stopped a car Tuesday night when they noticed a bag inside that said “Definitely not a bag full of drugs”. It, in fact, was – full of drugs: 79 blue fentanyl pills, three fake oxycodone tablets and 230g of methamphetamine, to be exact.
Officers pulled over a man and a woman who were driving a stolen car near the intersection of SE 162nd Avenue and Division, according to the Portland police bureau. Inside the car, officers noticed that the Ford Taurus’s ignition had been visibly tampered with – and spotted baggies of drugs.
“The driver and passenger were both arrested,” said Portland police public information officer Sergeant Kevin Allen. “Inside the vehicle was a substantial number of packaged drugs including methamphetamine and blue fentanyl pills, multiple scales, money and a loaded firearm.”
Many of the baggies of drugs had been stored in a brown canvas bag reading “Definitely not a bag full of drugs”. A photo of the officers’ bust – including the bag – garnered media attention on X.
Last night pro-active police work from East Precinct night shift officers resulted in the location of a stolen vehicle in the area of SE 162/Division. There was a bag full of drugs, scales, money, loaded firearm. Driver and passenger taken into custody - multiple charges pending. pic.twitter.com/UpvzZtMQXi
— PPB East Precinct (@ppbeast) October 9, 2024
The suspects – Reginald Reynolds, 35, and Mia Baggenstos, 37 – are both facing charges of drug possession and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Reynolds has been charged with delivery of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of a controlled substance in the first degree. Baggenstos faces nearly the same charges – except possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.
In 2020, Oregon made history when it decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs (much smaller than the amounts officers found Tuesday), in an effort to redirect city funding from criminalization and toward treatment of substance-use disorders. The measure passed with high levels of public support that faltered as overdose and homelessness rates rose in the state during the Covid-19 pandemic – when fentanyl also became widely available and affordable housing less so.
In September, the state recriminalized drug possession under a Democratic-controlled legislature.
