Portland Area Heroin Dispatcher Sentenced to Federal Prison for Role in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Christian Zepeda-Quezada aka Miguel Agredano, 32, was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, Zepeda-Quezada was a heroin dispatcher who used multiple drug dealers to distribute large quantities of heroin in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. In his role as dispatcher for the trafficking network, Zepeda-Quezada took heroin orders from customers by phone and arranged for dealers to hand-deliver the orders directly to the customers. As such, Zepeda-Quezada was insulated from direct exposure and faced less risk of harm than his co-conspirators.

Between January and August 2019, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Clark Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force (CVRDTF) made multiple controlled purchases of heroin from Zepeda-Quezada’s network before obtaining a warrant to search Zepeda-Quezada’s Vancouver residence and other locations. On August 7, 2019, agents seized distribution quantities of heroin and cocaine from Zepeda-Quezada’s residence. Zepeda-Quezada was arrested during the search and ordered detained pending trial.

On August 6, 2019, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a five-count indictment charging Zepeda-Quezada and two co-conspirators—Javier Perez-Alejandre, 22, a California resident, and Angel Umanzor-Ardon, 21, of Portland—with conspiracy to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin.

On June 2, 2021, Zepeda-Quezada pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin.

On October 20, 2020, Umanzor-Ardon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and, on April 28, 2021, he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release.

Perez-Alejandre remains in custody pending a four-day jury trial scheduled to begin October 18, 2021.

Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by DEA with assistance from CVRDTF. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Heroin is a leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. If you or someone you know suffers from addiction, please call the Lines for Life substance abuse helpline at 1-800-923-4357 or visit www.linesforlife.org. Phone support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also text “RecoveryNow” to 839863 between 8am and 11pm Pacific Time daily.