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| Prineville pair arrested during drug raid |
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| The two were busted after allegedly selling morphine from a Prineville business
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By Kevin Gaboury
Two Prineville residents were arrested on multiple felony drug charges when Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) team detectives raided their northeast Prineville apartment Wednesday evening.
Paul Reed Perlman, 52, and Celena Faith Williams, 32, were taken into custody at around 8 p.m. after detectives seized 30 morphine pills, along with 24 miscellaneous pills, methamphetamine pipes with meth residue, and five bags of marijuana (each weighing less than one ounce) pre-packaged for sale. The two were lodged in the Crook County jail and Williams was held without bail on a probation detainer.
Prineville Police officers, along with a Prineville Police drug detection K9 named Bo assisted detectives with the raid.
According to Lt. John Gautney of the CODE team, a monthlong investigation revealed Perlman had allegedly been selling prescription morphine pills from the Beds 4 Less store in Prineville where he was employed.
"We made some undercover purchases from him at the store," Gautney said. "We had information that he was selling prescription medications. We'd received a tip on that, so we started the investigation."
Gautney said he wouldn't consider Perlman's operation a large ring, but said he likely sold the pills to a few friends or acquaintances. The street value of the morphine was around $4 per pill.
The two also face additional charges for drug possession within 1,000 feet of a school. Their apartment at 176 NE Holly Street is across the street from the playground at Crooked River Elementary School and less than a block from Pioneer High School.
"It's concerning to us because of the fact that he was selling them to other people and the fact that he lives directly behind a school where there's high school kids that hang out and also elementary-aged kids," Gautney said.
It is unclear how Perlman obtained the drugs, but Gautney said in cases like this, offenders usually get other people to obtain the pills for them in exchange for other drugs, or forge the prescription themselves.
He added that morphine, a Schedule II narcotic, is not commonly seen in large quantities, but an unrelated raid in Madras two months ago yielded 80 pills.
"Thirty pills isn't a large quantity, but it's much more than a user amount, I would say." he said |
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