Roseburg Fentanyl Trafficking Ring Busted After Month-Long Investigation

A month-long investigation by the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team (DINT) into the illicit sale of fentanyl in the Roseburg area has reached its final stages. A Sunday night raid at a residence on the north end of town confirmed the trafficking of the highly potent Schedule II controlled substance.

By Monday morning, authorities had charged at least four individuals in connection with the operation. Identified as the ringleader, 59-year-old Kristi Annette Schwab of Roseburg now faces multiple felony charges, including three counts each of unlawful possession and delivery of a controlled substance, along with an additional charge of unlawfully manufacturing fentanyl.

Oregon law defines drug “manufacture” broadly, encompassing not only the production and processing of narcotics but also packaging and weighing for commercial sales.

Surveillance Leads to Key Suspects

One of Schwab’s primary distributors, 36-year-old Jeffrey James Cooper of Roseburg, has been charged with three counts each of unlawful possession and delivery of fentanyl. According to investigators, it was Cooper’s activity that led law enforcement to Schwab’s residence.

On January 19, DINT observed Cooper engaging in a suspected drug deal in the 3100 block of NE Stephens Street. Subsequent surveillance revealed that he was operating out of Schwab’s nearby residence. Investigators escalated their monitoring, and on February 7, Cooper was again spotted engaging in another suspected narcotics sale, this time in the 2100 block of NW Stewart Parkway.

During the weekend of February 8–9, surveillance efforts intensified. On Sunday, February 9, DINT detectives caught Cooper allegedly conducting another drug transaction in the 1500 block of NE Stephens Street. Cooper was inside a vehicle with two others when he reportedly abandoned his companions upon spotting an approaching sheriff’s deputy. Plainclothes officers later apprehended him inside a nearby business, where he was found in possession of a glass straw, cigarette lighter, a plastic bag of fentanyl, two additional bags with drug residue, burnt tinfoil, a digital scale, and $461 in cash.

Additional Arrests and Raid

The two individuals left inside the car, Kevin Alan Harris, 40, and Stephanie Marie Ruth Coatney, 43, both from the Green area, were also arrested. Officers allegedly caught them inhaling fentanyl smoke through a straw, with burnt tinfoil as additional evidence. Both were charged with unlawful possession and delivery of fentanyl.

Following the arrests, authorities obtained a search warrant and executed a raid at Schwab’s residence at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, with assistance from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Roseburg Police Department. The raid yielded multiple small packages of fentanyl, packaging materials, another digital scale, and $3,147 in cash. Schwab was taken into custody at the scene. The seized fentanyl weighed nearly 32 grams, with an estimated street value of approximately $100 per gram, depending on transaction quantities.

The Growing Fentanyl Crisis

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has largely supplanted heroin in Oregon as the dominant illicit depressant. According to the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area (HIDTA), fentanyl overdoses are increasingly linked to powder-form fentanyl, which is smoked rather than ingested in pill form. Law enforcement officials have noted that a single dose of fentanyl can be as small as three-tenths of a gram, making it extremely potent and dangerous.

Under Oregon law, Schedule II substances like fentanyl are classified as Class B felonies when involved in manufacturing or delivery. Comparatively, Schedule I narcotics carry Class A felony charges under similar circumstances. Oregon follows the federal classification system, which maintains fentanyl as a Schedule II drug due to its restricted medicinal uses.

National Legislative Action

At the federal level, the debate over fentanyl’s classification continues. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed House Resolution 27, also known as the HALT Fentanyl Act, on February 6. If enacted, the resolution would move fentanyl to Schedule I, indicating no accepted medical use and heightened criminal penalties. Critics of the bill argue that over-criminalization could further exacerbate the opioid crisis by neglecting the underlying public health aspects of addiction.

Legal Proceedings

By Monday afternoon, the key defendants in the Roseburg fentanyl case had been arraigned in Douglas County Circuit Court. Bail was set at $250,000 for Cooper and $500,000 for Schwab. The case remains under investigation, with law enforcement continuing efforts to dismantle fentanyl distribution networks in the region.