Long-sought suspect is now in jail

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HEPPNER – Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson said that about nine years ago a suspect in a Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team action evaded law enforcement. Cruz Alamos Beltran was arrested last week.

“This defendant was indicted through a secret indictment by the Morrow County grand jury with charges of delivery of meth through an undercover informant on four different occasions,” Nelson said.

Nelson said that, at the time, there were a number of people arrested on narcotics charges but she slipped through until law enforcement caught up with her last Thursday. She is charged with felony conspiracy and a failure to appear bench warrant and is lodged in Umatilla County Jail. Her bail is set at $56,000.

Nelson said much has changed since Beltran was first sought for arrest.

“It is interesting to see how Oregon law has changed so much during these years,” he said. “From possession of drugs being a felony, then becoming a misdemeanor, then a violation with a penalty less than a speeding ticket, and now back to misdemeanor.”