Coke, heroin found in bust at Portland ‘hub’ motel

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Two people have been arrested following a multi-week investigation into suspected drug trafficking at a motel in the Overlook neighborhood.

Anthony James Wiggins is charged with multiple counts of delivery and possession of cocaine, heroin and meth. Police say he and Shalea Marie Dearbone were mostly trafficking cocaine and heroin within 1,000 feet of a school in north Portland along Interstate Avenue.

The investigation began when officers from the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct Street Crimes Unit started watching the motel because it was known as “a hub” for drug activity.

On Nov. 18, police were watching a specific room. They were seeing Wiggins frequently coming and going over the course of several hours, according to court records. When Wiggins would leave the room, he’d go down to the street and the officers presumed that, based on his behavior, he was conducting sales of narcotics.

Police learned that an online ad had been set up advertising the sale of drugs. Police recovered about a gram of cocaine from a person who they stopped. That person went to the motel with about $100 to score some drug from Wiggins, according to records.

On Dec. 1, police decided to move in on the motel. A mission was conducted that led to the arrests of Wiggins and Dearbone. When Dearbone was arrested, police found a “sandwich bag in her hand that contained a variety of narcotics,” according to prosecutors.

A warrant was done at the motel and police found 2 bindles of heroin, a knife with cocaine residue, digital scales and Wiggins Oregon prison inmate card. On Wiggins’ person, police found cocaine and $1,200 in cash.