(PORTLAND, Ore.) Hello Portlanders! It's Wednesday, March 8 - Here's your daily round up of all the news happening in the City of Roses.
1. Pennsylvania man, known as dark web 'Narcoboss,' guilty in 3 fentanyl ODs in Portland
A Pennsylvania man who went by the usernames DNMKingpin and Narcoboss while selling fentanyl analogue on a former dark net marketplace has been found guilty by a federal jury after drugs he distributed led to the overdoses of three Portland residents. Henry Konah Koffie, 37, sold the drugs on the dark net website known as AlphaBay. The furanyl fentanyl he sold led to three overdoses between 2016 and 2017, two of which resulted in death.
On May 2, 2016, a 19-year-old Portland State University student overdosed after consuming fentanyl she’d received from a man who bought the substance from DNMKingpin on AlphaBay. Paramedics used Naloxone to save her life.
On May 6, 2017, a 27-year-old died from a fentanyl overdose in southeast Portland. A roommate said they had ordered a gram of “China White” from Narcoboss for $40 on AlphaBay, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
On May 29, 2017, another 27-year-old died of an overdose in northeast Portland. PPB found a notebook connecting the fentanyl with a purchase through a Bitcoin wallet.
According to authorities, Koffie also sold five orders of powdered fentanyl to investigators in controlled buys between May and June 2017. He was charged on July 12, 2017 and has been held in the Multnomah County Detention Center since then. He now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $10 million fine and three years’ supervised release.
Mayor Ted Wheeler is firing back at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after his comments about Walmart closing all of its Portland stores. Abbott shared FOX 12’s story on Twitter on Sunday, about Walmart pulling its two remaining stores out of Portland. He commented, “This is what happens when cities refuse to enforce the rule of law. It allows the mob to take over. Businesses can’t operate in that environment, and people can’t live in it.”
On Monday, Wheeler quoted Abbott’s tweet and responded, saying, “Governor Abbott, are the dozens of Walmart stores that have closed in Texas in recent years all communities that ‘refuse to enforce the rule of law?’ The retail industry is changing and retail theft is a national issue.”
Walmart’s decision to pull its stores out of Portland has gained national attention over the last week, highlighting what many are calling a rampant property crime problem in the city. A spokesperson for Walmart said there was no single reason for the decision, but local business owners say they’re dealing with similar issues as Walmart: shoplifting and vandalism.
3. Gov. Tina Kotek announces new interim OHA director
Gov. Tina Kotek announced this week that current Oregon Health Authority chief financial officer Dave Baden will take over as interim director in March. OHA announced last week that the previous interim director, James Schroeder, will resign after only about two months on the job.
Kotek said her office is still looking for a permanent replacement for former OHA director Patrick Allen. Allen stepped down earlier this year to become the head of New Mexico’s Health Department. He announced his resignation from OHA in November.
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