Luis Antonio Beltran Arredondo, a 35-year-old Mexican national living in Las Vegas, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release for his involvement in distributing fentanyl and heroin in Oregon. He was also convicted of laundering drug proceeds through a beauty salon located in Tualatin, Oregon. After serving his sentence, Arredondo is expected to be deported.
Court documents indicate that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began investigating the drug trafficking organization led by Arredondo in late 2021. The group was suspected of moving counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and heroin from California into Oregon and Washington for distribution. Between October 2021 and February 2022, law enforcement intercepted couriers and seized drugs and cash across three states. Authorities confiscated approximately 41 pounds of methamphetamine, 26 kilograms of heroin, 115,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills with fentanyl, and over $348,000 in cash.
A financial investigation by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) found that Arredondo and his fiancé Jacqueline Paola Rodriguez Barrientos laundered money through the Mazatlán Beauty Salon in Tualatin as well as by purchasing real estate which they converted into rental properties. These purchases were made using cashier’s checks funded by large cash deposits. Bank records showed Barrientos deposited amounts ranging from $10,000 to more than $373,000 into accounts under her name or her salon’s name during a nine-month period in 2021; these deposits totaled more than $3.5 million.
Since February 2021, members of the organization bought nine residential properties mortgage-free across Oregon, Washington, and Nevada valued at over $4.6 million. Arredondo directed these purchases using laundered funds while Barrientos managed the rentals through third-party companies earning about $10,000 per month.
On February 17, 2022, DEA agents arrested both Arredondo and Barrientos at their residence in Las Vegas where they seized two luxury vehicles along with receipts showing high-end retail spending and credit card statements reflecting over $16,000 spent on professional boxing match tickets.
Arredondo pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl as well as conspiracy to launder drug proceeds.
“Arredondo is the 12th and final member of the drug trafficking organization charged in this case to be sentenced,” according to court documents. “Barrientos was sentenced in October 2024, and is currently serving a sentence in federal prison for her role in laundering the organization’s drug proceeds.”
The government has moved for forfeiture on all nine residential properties used for laundering activities; five have been sold while four remain under proceedings.
The investigation involved DEA with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), IRS-CI, Tigard Police Department, and Oregon State Police. The prosecution is being handled by Peter D. Sax, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon; forfeiture proceedings are managed by Katie De Villiers, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
