Drug raids around two MAX stations in Portland follow a series of violent incidents in East Burnside

The arrest of 33 people in a multi-agency drug raid over the weekend focused on the area around two MAX gas stations in Portland followed a murder last week at one of those stations and was the latest in a series of violent incidents along East Burnside Street in recent months.

On Friday and Saturday, officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police, Gresham Police Department and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office responded to suspected drug trafficking and drug use in the areas of East Burnside Street, 122nd and 148th Avenues.

Since 2022, six people have been killed in homicides near these two intersections, including a man at the 148th Avenue light rail station last week. On Thursday, Portland police arrested 42-year-old Felix Angelo Juarez-Perez on charges of first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the killing.

The shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and according to a probable cause affidavit, drugs appeared to play a role in the fatal shooting. Police Department spokesman Mike Benner would not say whether drugs played a role in any of the other homicides near the two stations since 2022.

The affidavit and police identified Thursday's victim as Taysean Nash and said he died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Surveillance video shows Nash on the platform with two other people before his death.

The suspect, later identified as Juarez-Perez, approached, pointed a handgun and began firing, court records say. A Hillsboro police sergeant reviewed surveillance video and saw the suspect leave the platform after the shooting and enter an area covered with a blue tarp, the affidavit says.

The sergeant then alerted a Port of Portland transit officer, who went to the tent site across from the platform. The officer identified Juarez-Perez as one of the people in the tent and the same person from the surveillance video, the affidavit states, and he was taken into custody. Records show he remains in Multnomah County custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30.

A Portland police detective interviewed Juarez-Perez, who said he gave Nash drugs and confronted him about not paying him. He told police he shot Nash two to three times and hit him with a pistol, according to court records.

Benner said law enforcement chose the two locations for their weekend operation because of the high crime rates in those locations, as well as feedback from the public and officers.

The intersections are located in Hazelwood, one of Portland's largest neighborhoods and where most shootings occur.

— Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221-4323, [email protected] or on X @zaeemshake.