Siskiyou County DHE bust pulls more than a pound of meth and heroin off streets
YREKA, Calif., — For the fourth time in just over five weeks, members of Siskiyou County’s new Domestic Highway Enforcement (DHE) Team made a significant drug bust while patrolling the I-5 corridor through Siskiyou County last Thursday, March 10. Over the last month and a half, the team, which began operations on Feb. 1, has made numerous drug-related arrests including at least three incidents that resulted in large quantities of dangerous and illicit narcotics being seized.
In addition to their smaller busts, the team has managed to pull in a staggering sixteen pounds of cocaine, thousands of M30 oxycodone/fentanyl tablets – totaling more than twelve pounds, seven pounds of fentanyl powder, ten pounds of methamphetamine and nearly two and a half pounds of heroin, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office officials who estimated the street value of the seized narcotics to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
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At around 11 a.m., a DHE agent was conducting traffic enforcement on Interstate 5 near the Weed Airport, when he initiated a traffic stop on a gray Ford Focus with a Washington license plate after observing a traffic violation, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Whetstine told SCNS this afternoon.
For the fourth time in just over five weeks, Siskiyou County’s new Domestic Highway Enforcement (DHE) team made a significant drug bust, pulling more than a pound of methamphetamine and heroin off the streets. Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office photos
After contacting and detaining the vehicle’s occupants, DHE agents observed “criminal indicators that led them to believe that criminal activity was afoot,” the Lieutenant explained.
While interviewing the passenger, 48-year-old Samuel Wayne Blanchfield, agents learned there was methamphetamine inside the vehicle that he admitted belonged to him.
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A subsequent vehicle search uncovered more than a pound of suspected methamphetamine, 5.4 grams of suspected heroin, and drug paraphernalia.
Based on their investigation, agents arrested Blanchfield and he was later booked into the Siskiyou County Jail on suspicion of possession of narcotics for sale and transportation of narcotics for sale, both felonies.
Online jail records indicate he remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail or bond.
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The Domestic Highway Enforcement team was implemented by SCSO Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue in an effort to crack down on drug trafficking and other drug-related offenses along Interstate 5 and began official operations on Feb. 1.
Although the current DHE team only consists of deputies and officers from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office and Lake Shastina Police Department, plans are already in the works to consider including additional surrounding law enforcement agencies that serve the communities along the I-5 corridor, according to Whetstine.
Anyone with information about suspected drug trafficking along the I-5 corridor through Siskiyou County is encouraged to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 841-2900. Callers can remain anonymous.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 51, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and operates Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS), which act as stringer-news providers for other mainstream media organizations throughout the two regions they serve.
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.