Over the course of the past couple of months, the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement team (MADGE) has been busy removing dangerous drugs and firearms from the local area. The below three cases highlight some of the work this team has been doing. 

On 10/26/2023, MADGE investigators made contact with a suspect in the North Medford Walmart parking lot as a result of a month's long investigation. A search of the suspect’s vehicle resulted in the seizure of 9 pounds of Methamphetamine and cash. This case involved three suspect’s transporting drugs from northern California to Medford. Arrested were 52-year-old Angela Rehberger of Grants Pass and 51-year-old Stacy Carlisle, also of Grants Pass. 

On 01/31/24, MADGE detectives made contact with two subjects in the parking lot of the South Medford Walmart as a result of a month long investigation. During this contact, the suspects were found to be in possession of 10 pounds of Methamphetamine, 6 ounces of Fentanyl and cash. Arrested were Luis Lepe-Rodriguez (45 years old) and Aurora Mendoza-Valencia (55 years old). Both of these subjects were from Cresent City and had been transporting drugs to the Medford area. 

On 02/15/24, MADGE served a search warrant at the Motel 6 in North Medford as a result of a month's long investigation involving Honduran nationals delivering drugs to our area from the Bay Area in California. During the execution of the warrant, 10 pounds of Meth and a loaded handgun were seized. Yoel Fernando Valladares-Galvez (29 years-old) and Carlos Rivas-Gamez (19 years-old) were both arrested for the drug charges.     

The MADGE team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts, and dismantles local, multi-state and international drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence-driven, multi-agency prosecutor-support approach. MADGE is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) which is compose of members from the Medford Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, Parole and Probation, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

The Oregon-Idaho HIDTA program is an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) sponsored counterdrug grant program that coordinates with and provides funding resources to multi-agency drug enforcement initiatives, including MADGE.