Tag: fentanyl trafficking

FBI Raid Uncovers Fentanyl Operation At DC Government Office

A DC government employee was caught selling drugs, sometimes right outside of his office building.

The FBI raided a Washington, D.C. government office last week and discovered a cache of the deadly opioid fentanyl. The drugs allegedly belonged to Darrell Marcellus Pope, who worked at—and sold drugs from—the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Pope was arrested and charged with selling fentanyl. He and his wife, who also worked in the office, are currently on leave.

Inside The Operation

The scheme was discovered by undercover agents who reportedly caught Pope selling fentanyl, claiming they observed him selling the stuff just outside his office, often just a few feet away from an elementary school.

The scope of Pope’s operation spanned Woodbridge, Virginia, Clinton, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Drivers in the scheme would drive clients from Virginia to D.C. for the express purpose of making an illicit purchase.

According to DCist, Undercover agents then set up a sting operation during which Pope allegedly sold agents fentanyl and/or heroin nine times over the course of a month.

According to court documents, Pope sold his wares at $100 a gram and carried a handgun to at least one sale.

The FBI allegedly confiscated “at least one ounce” of the suspected fentanyl from Pope’s home, an “additional quantity of suspected fentanyl” in his workspace, and 30 more grams on his person. Pope’s co-workers knew about the FBI raid, according to a spokesperson, but the fentanyl was definitely a surprise.

A government employee working at the heart of our nation isn’t the only surprising fentanyl dealer in recent news.

Ex-Eagle Scout Turned Fentanyl Kingpin

Aaron Shamo, a 29-year-old former Eagle Scout in Salt Lake City, Utah, faces a mandatory life sentence for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar opioid scheme. His operation created hundreds of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl.

Shamo started on this dark path when he met his co-conspirator, Drew Crandall, who worked with him at an eBay call center. The pair formulated a scheme to sell their Adderall prescriptions on the dark web before eventually using those profits to purchase and sell harder drugs, including cocaine and MDMA.

They got their network of friends to receive drug shipments at their addresses.

Not long after, the pair got into the business of pressing their own pills, first starting with fake Xanax made of the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, then moving on to their deadly fentanyl products. According to ABC News, the two would sell thousands of pills a week at $10 a pop.

Their business faltered as people became sick or died from taking their pills. Their operation came to an end when a customs agent intercepted a shipment of fentanyl destined for Shamo’s operation.

View the original article at thefix.com

1 October 2019
Chinese Official Refutes Trump's Fentanyl Claims

The official alleges that since China added fentanyl-related drugs to their controlled substances list last May that no new smuggling cases have come to light.

Amidst a recent war of words between China and the United States over fentanyl smuggling, a narcotics official in China said at a news conference that while the two countries have a “good cooperative relationship,” they have “extremely limited” cooperation on investigations into and prosecution of fentanyl cases.

President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials have alleged that the Asian superpower is the primary source of the synthetic opioid and derivatives that are smuggled into the U.S., a claim which Chinese drug officials have vehemently denied, and in turn levied allegations that the U.S. hasn’t done enough to curb fentanyl abuse within its own borders.

Finding Common Ground

The statement by Liu Yuejin, Vice Commissioner of the China National Narcotics Control Commission, suggested that the countries had yet to reach common ground on how to tackle the global fentanyl problem.

Reuters quoted a broadcast from Chinese state television that covered Liu’s appearance at a news conference to detail how the country was waging war on fentanyl production. Liu noted that “looking at cases, counter-narcotics law enforcement departments from China and the United States have for many years maintained a good cooperative relationship.”

He then added, “But cooperation on investigating and prosecuting fentanyl-related substances is extremely limited.”

Liu went on to claim that since 2012, the U.S. has only presented “clues” on six fentanyl-related smuggling cases to Chinese officials, and only three of those cases reached a positive resolution.

By comparison, China had provided U.S. law enforcement with nearly 400 leads on fentanyl-related packages since 2012, Liu said.

Controlled Substance Ban

Liu further noted that since May 1, 2019—when China added the entire class of fentanyl-related drugs to its list of controlled substances at the behest of Trump—no fentanyl-related smuggling cases had come to light. He also claimed that fentanyl-related deaths in the States have risen further.

Both points underscored, as Liu suggested, “that President Trump’s tweets about fentanyl in the U.S. mainly coming from China are not true at all,” referring to an August 23, 2019 tweet from the president in which he urged all postal and delivery service carriers to “search for and refuse” all deliveries of fentanyl from China.

As for the notion that Chinese-produced fentanyl has been entering the U.S. through Mexico, which Trump alleged in a June tweet, Liu said that “police from [China, the U.S. and Mexico] have not detected or cracked a single case. Then what is the basis for the conclusion drawn by certain U.S. politicians? They have sat at home and imagined such things out of thin air.”

In regard to Trump’s tweet, CNN stated that his assertion that 90% of the drugs entering the United States come through Mexico had some flaws, given that the fentanyl from China is purer and can then be used to manufacture more narcotics, while Mexico imports more fentanyl from China than U.S. law enforcement seizes at the border.

View the original article at thefix.com

20 September 2019
"60 Minutes" Tracks Down Fentanyl "Kingpin" In China

The show’s producers tracked down and confronted one of the primary sources offering fentanyl online to US residents.

60 Minutes recently did a segment on the fentanyl crisis, tracking down a man identified as something of a “kingpin” for the trafficking of this incredibly potent drug from China. Shipments of fentanyl from China via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) are considered by federal authorities to be a massive source of the influx of the drug that has been causing mass overdose cases across the country.

Shopping For Fentanyl Online

After two overdose deaths in a week in Akron, Ohio, assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Cronin decided to investigate how the synthetic opioid, which can be 50 times more potent than heroin, was making its way so easily into American hands. He found that ordering fentanyl online was shockingly simple.

“We just said, ‘Hey,’ according to the source’s instructions, ‘we’re interested in buying fentanyl,’” said Cronin. “And the result was, to say the least, surprising. We have dozens, probably over 50 different drug trafficking networks reaching out to us saying, ‘We have fentanyl. We have even more powerful fentanyl analogs. Whatever you want, we’ll get it for you for cheap. We’ll get it for you in bulk.’”

All of the replies came from China.

According to similar investigations by Ohio Senator Rob Portman and his staff, these sources guaranteed shipments that went through the USPS due to delays in implementing shipping procedures designed to stop fentanyl trafficking.

“That’s because after 9/11, all private carriers like FedEx were required to give U.S. Customs advance descriptions and tracking of foreign packages,” 60 Minutes reports. “The Postal Service was allowed to delay because of the cost.”

Although the USPS has tried to implement these requirements, they say that China is not cooperating.

Locating The Source

Somehow, 60 Minutes producer Bob Anderson tracked down a man named Guanghua Zheng, who was identified as one of the primary sources offering fentanyl online to U.S. residents, and confronted him outside of a Shanghai grocery store. Zheng insisted that he no longer does this before the woman who was with him intervened.

The U.S. government has “sealed” off Zheng’s offshore bank accounts, shut down 40 of his websites selling illicit substances like fentanyl in 20 languages, and officially designated him and his sons as “foreign drug kingpins.” China has promised to shut down the synthetic opioid trafficking networks operating within its borders, but it’s unclear whether they are following through.

During the 60 Minutes segment, Justin Herdman, U.S. Attorney in Cleveland, repeated a claim that fentanyl can cause intoxication, overdose, and even death through mere skin contact. However, in 2018, harm reduction activist Chad Sabora demonstrated this to be a myth by holding fentanyl-laced powder in his hand for several minutes without effect.

View the original article at thefix.com

19 September 2019
Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 14 Million People From Drug Ring

Law enforcement seized 30 kilograms of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine, 24 firearms and over $700,000 in cash in the massive bust.

More than two-dozen law enforcement agencies descended on a drug-trafficking ring based in Virginia, and seized enough fentanyl to reportedly kill 14 million people.

Federal prosecutors announced on August 29 that 35 individuals were arrested in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas for their alleged roles in the distribution organization, which was based in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Thirty kilograms of fentanyl, as well as 30 kilograms of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine, 24 firearms and over $700,000 in cash were also seized as part of “Operation Cookout.”

Co-Conspirators

Over 120 law enforcement officers were involved in the arrests, which were the culmination of a two-year investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.

According to the 108-page indictment, 39 co-conspirators, ages 19 to 63, were allegedly involved in what federal prosecutors described as a “large-scale drug trafficking organization” that began in March 2016.

The 35 defendants and unindicted co-conspirators purchased narcotics from suppliers on both coasts and in Mexico and then have them shipped to their base of operations in the metropolitan region of Hampton Roads using a variety of transportation vehicles equipped with “hidden traps.” Reportedly, one suspect also requested fentanyl from a dealer in Shanghai, who shipped the drug to them via the U.S. Postal Service.

Inside The Trafficking Ring

Prosecutors also alleged that the defendants and co-conspirators used locations throughout the Hampton Roads area to prepare heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and cocaine base for distribution, as well as to meet and discuss future narcotics sales and distribution.

The co-conspirators reportedly used at least 94 different communication devices, pre-paid cell phones, as well as encrypted apps like FaceTime, to arrange locations for selling and buying drugs, as well as other “day-to-day operations,” as the indictment noted.

The 35 defendants arrested in Operation Cookout were charged with 106 counts of alleged offenses, including conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribution cocaine, heroin, cocaine base and fentanyl; conspiracy to launder money; felon in possession of a firearm; interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises; and illegal re-entry by a previously deported or removed alien.

The indictment only alleged that the defendants committed a crime, and are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

“This massive interdiction of narcotics, which included enough fentanyl to kill over 14 million people, is proof positive of the power and strength of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This operation, through its seizure of scores of kilograms of illicit narcotics, saved lives in the Eastern District and elsewhere. Any day where we can do that is particularly meaningful and impactful.”

View the original article at thefix.com

6 September 2019
Former Eagle Scout Turned Fentanyl Kingpin Gets His Day In Court

Although the Utah man is only charged in connection with one death, prosecutors say that his pill operation has been linked to “dozens” of fatal overdoses.

A former Eagle Scout from Utah is on trial facing 13 federal charges connected with running an organization that used imported fentanyl from China to produce counterfeit OxyContin and sell it on the dark web, reaping millions in profits.

The prosecution argues that Aaron Shamo, 29, was the kingpin behind the operation. The defense argues that Shamo was roped into the organization and did not fully understand the consequences of his actions because of a learning disability, according to the AP.

Prosecutor Michael Gadd was blunt during his opening statement: “Death, drugs and money. That’s why we’re here.”

Shamo is being charged with criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and money laundering. He is also facing charges in connection to the death of one customer who snorted a pill that Shamo made and died. However, his defense attorney said that he is only guilty of some of the charges.

“He’s guilty of many of these counts. Aaron’s owning what he did,” defense attorney Greg Skordas said, according to Deseret News. However, “the evidence will not establish that Aaron Shamo caused the death of another, or that he was the organizer, leader, mastermind of this organization,” Skordas added.

The Big Raid

Law enforcement raided the home where Shamo lived with his parents in 2016. They found a pill press in the basement, along with hundreds of thousands of pills and more than $1 million in cash. Shamo—who had up to 20 employees at some points—reportedly paid people to allow fentanyl to be shipped to their homes. He collected the drugs, cut them with other substances, pressed pills and stamped them so that they resembled authentic prescription pills. That allowed him to produce a pill for 1 cent, and sell it for up to $20 on the dark web.

Despite that level of sophistication, Shamo’s parents insist he should not be found guilty of all charges.

“They’re just a bunch of kids who did really bad things,” his mother Becky Shamo said. “He’s a good kid. He’s only 29. He deserves a chance at life.”

His father Mike said, “He was brought in and saw the opportunity for making money, and he didn’t truly understand the danger behind what he was doing, how dangerous the drugs were. I think he was able to separate what he was doing because he never saw the customer. To him, it was just numbers on a screen.”

Although Shamo is only charged in connection with one death, prosecutors say that his pill operation has been linked to “dozens” of fatal overdoses.

View the original article at thefix.com

15 August 2019
USPS, FedEx Remain Easiest Way To Ship Fentanyl Into US

“The sheer logistical nature of trying to pick out which packages contain opioids makes it much more challenging,” said a Customs and Border Protection official.

A recent federal court case involving 43 members of a methamphetamine distribution network with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel again highlighted the relative ease with which the United States Postal Service (USPS) and private carriers like FedEx can be used to deliver powerful synthetic opioids into the United States.

The case involved a San Diego-based network that shipped methamphetamine and the “club drug” gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) to locations throughout the U.S. using the postal service and FedEx.

Coverage in Quartz detailed how increases in express shipping, combined with a lack of sufficient staffing at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency and carriers like the UPS allow such transactions to take place.

Former FBI agent Dennis Franks said that the current method of stopping drugs from entering the country through the mail is like “putting your finger in a dike, but there’s just not enough fingers to put in all the holes.”

The 43 defendants in the federal case used the USPS and fraudulent FedEx accounts to mail drugs to sub-distributors. The FedEx accounts were “billed to and paid for” by large corporations in the belief that the companies would not notice smaller shipment costs.

A joint task force involving the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, sheriff’s and police departments, the United States Postal Inspection Service and Federal Bureau of Prisons collaborated to file indictments against 43 members of the network on May 21.

Despite efforts like these, the practice of importing drugs through the USPS and private carriers remains a serious problem for state and federal law enforcement.

According to congressional testimony from the union that represents CBP officers, the agency needs more than double the number of inspectors currently on duty at mail sorting facilities to keep up with the volume of packages to “ensure successful interdiction.”

In the past five years, express shipments have increased by nearly 50%, while international mail shipments have risen more than 200%. But at shipping and receiving hubs like the one maintained by FedEx in Memphis, Tennessee, there were only 15 CBP officers working on the overnight shift to process 86 million shipments in 2018.

“The sheer logistical nature of trying to pick out which packages contain opioids makes it much more challenging,” said Robert E. Perez, an acting executive assistant commissioner for CBP. “It’s unlike anything we’ve encountered.”

Policy changes incurred by the change in government administrations, as well as the necessity of a warrant to search any package sent via the USPS, also contribute to the overwhelming issues that confront law enforcement with mail shipments.

And as Franks noted, the cartels and related networks have their own means of assuring that their deliveries go unchallenged.

“Don’t think that these cartels don’t have their own ‘intelligence services,’” he told Quartz. “Friends, family members working on the inside. So they’re going to know how many agents or officers are assigned to which FedEx facility, when they’re working, and when they’re not.”

View the original article at thefix.com

6 June 2019
Catching Fentanyl Shipments Is "Death By A Thousand Cuts"

“You used to have the tractor-trailer running up the interstate, that had to be met by someone and distributed. Now, you have an individual sitting somewhere in middle America ordering this thing, and it arrives as a parcel at their house.”

Despite knowing that fentanyl is being shipped into the United States using the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx, law enforcement officials are largely unable to stop trafficking of the deadly synthetic opioid.

“The sheer logistical nature of trying to pick out which packages contain opioids makes it much more challenging,” Robert E. Perez, an acting executive assistant commissioner at United States Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, told The New York Times. “It’s unlike anything we’ve encountered.”

Fentanyl shipments are difficult to detect because they are so small. A dose of fentanyl the size of a grain of sand can be deadly, and since it is powerful in such small amounts drug dealers can turn a huge profit shipping tiny packages.

“When you’re dealing with very small, minute quantities, it’s kind of like death by a thousand cuts,” said Patrick J. Lechleitner, the special agent in charge of the Washington office of Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A kilogram of cut fentanyl costs about $80,000, and can be sold on the street for a profit of $1.6 million, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), making it about 20 times as profitable as heroin.

“This is what makes the opioid crisis so unique and dangerous,” said Peter Vincent, who led ICE’s international operations during the Obama administration. “Traditionally, law enforcement has focused on large quantities of drugs like marijuana and cocaine. But very small amounts of opioids can bring tremendous profits.”

In addition, the fact that fentanyl can be shipped directly to residential addresses after it is bought online makes it even more difficult to intercept.

“You used to have the tractor-trailer running up the interstate, with its contraband, that had to be met by someone and distributed,” Lechleitner said. “Now, you have an individual sitting somewhere in middle America ordering this thing, and it arrives as a parcel at their house.”

Authorities have made some progress in stopping fentanyl shipments, most of which are said to come from China and Mexico. Last year, border security seized 1,485 pounds of fentanyl, and this year they have already seized 1,060 pounds of the drug. People have been arrested and charged after receiving mail-order fentanyl shipments.

This year, President Trump and Congress have approved more than $80 million to aid in the detection of opioids. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said that the funding is key to making a difference in the amount of deadly opioids reaching Americans.

“There’s no doubt that more funding is an important component if we’re going to make real progress,” said Portman.

Despite that, many border officials continue to feel like they’re looking for a needle in a haystack when it comes to detecting fentanyl shipments.

View the original article at thefix.com

7 June 2018
Police Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 26 Million People

The record-breaking seizure was one of the biggest fentanyl busts in US history.

Nebraska State Patrol managed to seize 118 pounds of fentanyl during a routine traffic stop.

According to estimates by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, this was enough fentanyl to kill 26 million people. This estimate is based on the fact, according to the DEA, that just two milligrams of the drug is enough to kill a person.

On April 26, state troopers became aware of a suspicious semi-truck driving on the shoulder of Interstate 80. After pulling the truck over, troopers searched the vehicle and found the record-breaking stash in a hidden compartment.

At first glance, the troopers thought they had found a formidable mound of what was probably mostly cocaine. Testing of the drug was delayed because of the “dangerous nature of the substance,” as some drugs, including fentanyl, are dangerous if touched and absorbed into the skin or accidentally breathed in.

It was fortunate they took such precautions, because testing revealed that all 118 pounds were fentanyl. This bust was the largest the state of Nebraska had ever seen, and is among the largest in the country, announced Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The driver and passenger of the truck, 46-year-old Felipe Genao-Minaya and 52-year-old Nelson Nunez, were arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Authorities estimate the product they were hauling was worth more than $20 million.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is anywhere between 50 and 100 times stronger than morphine and 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin.

The drug has exacerbated the opioid crisis and has been involved in a few high-profile deaths, including Prince and Tom Petty. Petty was found unconscious in his home and was rushed to the hospital in full cardiac arrest. An autopsy revealed that among the drugs in his system, fentanyl featured prominently.

In Prince’s case, neither he nor those close to him knew he was taking fentanyl. Everyone involved thought the pills were Vicodin, but they were actually fentanyl-laced counterfeits, according to an investigation.

Kellyanne Conway, who was entrusted by the Trump administration with the task of tackling the opioid crisis, suggested that fentanyl addiction and deaths could be avoided if people opted for junk food as their vice instead.

“I guess my short advice is, as somebody double your age, eat the ice cream, have the french fry, don’t buy the street drug,” Conway said. “Believe me, it all works out.”

View the original article at thefix.com

1 June 2018