At a hotel in Queens, New York, not far from John F. Kennedy International Airport, two male Californians were apprehended on Monday after they were allegedly discovered in possession of more than 32,000 fentanyl pills with a $1 million street value.
Pierre-Lys Roodolph, 33, of San Diego, and Uriel Barajas-Valencia, 50, of Perris, were arrested following a two-month investigation that culminated with claims that the two men were witnessed carrying out a cocaine sale behind a Hampton Inn on 135th Avenue in Queens.
Men Sell Fentanyl Near JFK Airport
It was discovered that Barajas-Valencia had organized the transportation and distribution of about 32,000 fentanyl pills in a statement issued by Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City Bridget G. Brennan.
Roodolph left an elevator in the hotel around 11:30 am as the investigation was going on. carrying a brown package on November 21. The two guys then strolled outside to the back of the hotel after he had first met Barajas-Valencia in the lobby.
Agents watched the two men move between two parked cars, where Roodolph allegedly set the brown box he was carrying on the ground.
Members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force of the DEA approached the two men and removed the package from them. According to the press release, there were four parcels inside, each one wrapped in fabric and cellophane.
Both males were taken into custody and charged the next day in a Manhattan criminal court with possession of suspected blue fentanyl pills with the designation M30 found inside each package. The judge set the bail for each defendant at $50,000 cash and $100,000 bond at the time of their arraignment.
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Man Runs Fake Pills Laboratory Laced with Fentanyl
Meanwhile, authorities said on Monday, November 21 that a federal grand jury had indicted a Cerritos man for allegedly running two labs in the Los Angeles region that produced phony fentanyl-laced tablets that were then sold to unaware customers online as other prescription medications.
A news conference was held to announce that Christopher Hampton, 36, who authorities allege was active on various darknet markets since January 2021, mostly using the online alias Narco710, is charged with 11 charges.
Authorities claim Hampton established a network of individuals to run labs in Inglewood and Compton after purchasing fentanyl in quantity. The bogus pills, which looked like oxycodone pills but were actually loaded with fentanyl and methamphetamine, were made using a high-speed pill press.
Almost $1.5 million in profits, according to the investigators, were found on two of Hampton’s nine online accounts, court records show.
In the course of the investigation, six search warrants resulted in the seizure of 450 pounds of suspected narcotics, six pill presses, illegal firearms, and more than 20,000 multicolored pills containing fentanyl, according to the authorities. Hampton, who the grand jury indicted on Friday, was arrested on November 2.
Distribution, conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, and maintaining a location for narcotics distribution was the subject of all 11 offenses. If found guilty, he might be given a life sentence.
The case brought to light what regional, state, and federal agencies described as a rising and life-threatening issue. Agents from Homeland Security have confiscated more fentanyl in October and November than they did in all of 2019 and 2020 put together.