Subject of 3-month drug investigation charged with possession

BEND, Ore. – Police found more than 9 ounces of methamphetamine in a secret compartment of a car driven by a Bend man who was the subject of a three-month drug investigation. Investigators with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team received a tip that Nicodemo Virrueta-Gonzalez would be returning to Bend from Southern California earlier this month. Police stopped the car in La Pine and found Virrueta-Gonzalez and Genaro Urena-Gonzalez, who was charged with possession of cocaine. Detectives found a total of 12 ounces of methamphetamine in the car, which they estimated to be worth more than $15,000. Both men were charged with manufacturing, possessing and distributing methamphetamine and frequenting a place where drugs are kept or sold.