A Washington man and California woman face federal drug charges after police seized a large stash of heroin sold mid-day in the parking lot of Clackamas Town Center -- what officers say has become a common spot for interstate drug deals, according to court records.

About 2:20 p.m. last Thursday, a man sat in his car parked in the mall’s lot for about 30 minutes until the woman circled the lot and parked next to his car, according to Gresham police officers who were tipped off and set up surveillance.

The woman later told investigators she had driven straight to the lot from San Diego, according to court records.

The man stepped out of his maroon Nissan Altima, walked over to the woman’s white Nissan Altima and turned over a white plastic bag, according to investigators’ reports.

The woman got out of her car, opened the trunk, retrieved a cloth grocery bag and gave it to the man, according to a federal affidavit. The man’s Altima had Washington plates and the woman’s Altima had California plates.

Gresham police investigators watched the alleged deal go down in the mall lot off Southeast 82nd Avenue and stopped the drivers of both cars.

They arrested Manuel Hernandez Gabriel, 32, of Bridgeport, Washington, the alleged buyer, and Consuelo Morales Ramirez, 33, of Oceanside, California, the alleged seller.

Gabriel and Ramirez were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Police found five brick-shaped objects wrapped in tape inside the cloth grocery bag found in Gabriel’s car, according to the affidavit.

The taped packages contained about 5,874 grams, or about 12.9 pounds of heroin, federal Homeland Security Investigations agent Clint Lindsly wrote in the affidavit.

Inside Ramirez’s car, police found about $9,000 in cash in the white plastic bag, according to the affidavit.

Manuel Hernandez Gabriel, 32, of Washington, on left, the accused buyer; and Consuelo Morales Ramirez, 33, of California, the alleged seller. (MCSO)MCSO

Ramirez told officers that the drug exchange marked her second drug handoff with Gabriel at the mall lot in recent months, according to the federal agent.

Gresham police described the mall lot as a “high-volume trafficking area based off previous investigations,’’ the affidavit said.

Ramirez was released from custody last week and placed on GPS monitoring with a curfew as she awaits trial. Gabriel was denied release Thursday after entering not guilty pleas to the drug charges in U.S. District Court in Portland. A federal trial is tentatively set for Nov. 19.

In March, Portland police made three arrests in an unrelated drug bust in the Clackamas Town Center lot and seized 116 grams of heroin, 22 grams of methamphetamine, drug packaging supplies, cash and weapons.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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