A convenience store that police say was used to run drugs in North Portland is back open — under new management. Neighbors hope the new shopkeepers will help tame the troubled corner.
The Stop N Go Mini Mart, whose last operator is facing criminal drug-dealing charges, is now under the auspices of the Thapa family. State records show the family is based in Wilsonville and owns liquor stores and convenience stores all around the Portland metropolitan area.
The Stop N Go Mini Mart in North Portland on April 27, 2025. The convenience store has reopened with new operators after the previous store runner was arrested on multiple drug-dealing charges.
Michelle Wiley / OPB
The family — doing business as 365 Williams Inc. — took the reins as recently as April 7, records show. That is about a month after the Portland Police Bureau arrested the prior store runner, who is now facing multiple drug-dealing charges.
Neighbors are counseling the new operators that they have a tough job ahead of them. For years, community members have called the store a magnet for drug dealing and sex trafficking.
“This is not like anything else in their portfolio,” said Laura Fay, co-chair of the Eliot Neighborhood Association. “They have a long way to go.”
Neighbors won’t be the only ones watching how they run their latest business. The store — which is kitty-corner from a cherished city park — was notorious enough that the previous operator’s arrest warranted a press conference featuring Mayor Keith Wilson, Portland Police Chief Bob Day and Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez.
Dinesh Thapa, 49, did not respond to requests for comment. He has listed Dipesh Thapa, 27, and Dipen Thapa, 26, as co-applicants for a license to sell liquor at the store.
All three have listed the same address, a 3,600-square-foot home in Wilsonville. The address is also linked to their business license.
State business records show the trio is linked to about a dozen businesses, many of them called 365 Convenience Store & Deli.
Andrew Champion, who lives next door to the store and previously criticized the city for being slow to address its harm to the neighborhood, isn’t yet sold that the new operators will fix things.
“We’re not through the woods yet,” Champion said.
Champion said he is cautiously optimistic. Since the police arrested the previous operator, the block has “definitely improved.”
The police, working with confidential informants, believed Donald Sharma was selling drugs out of the store and ran it like a home base for neighborhood dealers, according to police records obtained by OPB. Sharma allegedly allowed dealers to use the market to stash drugs when police came into the area.
Sharma has been charged with seven crimes, including possession and delivery of cocaine and heroin. He’s pleaded not guilty.
At least one member of the Thapa family has met with neighbors, including Fay, and officials from the city and police bureau. Fay was heartened by the new owner’s answers to the questions raised in the meeting.
“He absolutely understood this is not something he’s going to be able to walk in and operate like their other stores,” Fay said.
According to Fay, the Thapa family has promised to install a gate around the back parking lot and discontinue selling single-serve alcohol, like 16-ounce “tallboys” and 40-ounce malt liquor.
Portland Police Bureau North Precinct Cmdr. Rob Simon said police officials offered their support to the Thapa family. They underscored that convenience stores are helpful places to shop for people with mobility issues.
“By working alongside residents and supporting both longstanding and new businesses, we believe this area can continue to grow as a vibrant, inclusive community hub,” Simon said in a statement.
Correction: the original version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote to PPB spokesperson Terri Wallo Strauss. The statement is from Portland police’s North Precinct Cmdr. Rob Simon. OPB regrets the error.
