Wolf Creek Drug Investigation Leads To Four Arrests, Major Drug Seizures

A six-week drug investigation involving agencies in Oregon and California ended with major drug, gun, and cash seizures and the arrests of four people, according to law enforcement.

The Rogue Area Drug Enforcement team, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration and several local and state agencies, executed three residential search warrants in Wolf Creek on Friday, April 10, along with a fourth warrant in Corning, California.

Investigators said the case centered on a drug trafficking operation based in Wolf Creek that was being supplied with methamphetamine from Corning.

During the investigation, authorities stopped Marshall Clifford De La Garza, 39, on Wednesday, April 8. Law enforcement said he was transporting about 90 pounds of methamphetamine from Corning to Josephine County.

Searches in Wolf Creek led to the seizure of multiple firearms and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Three people were arrested there: Johnny Dean Davis Jr., 43, Daniel Cody Green, 44, and Stephen Ray Higgins, 56. All three were booked into the Josephine County Jail on multiple charges, including racketeering, delivery of methamphetamine, and possession of methamphetamine.

A fourth suspect, Jesus Fernando Vega, 53, was arrested in Corning by the California Highway Patrol. Authorities said the search of his residence uncovered about 58 pounds of methamphetamine, 6 kilograms of cocaine, $227,752 in cash, a stolen pistol, a revolver, a hunting rifle, and a MAC-10-style machine gun.

The RADE team is a multijurisdictional narcotics task force focused on identifying and disrupting local, multistate, and international drug trafficking organizations. The team is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, which helps fund multiagency drug enforcement efforts.