Three Defendants Indicted in One of Nations Largest-Ever Fentanyl Seizures
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/three-defendants-indicted-one-nation-s-largest-ever-fentanyl-seizures
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Southern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 19, 2017
Three Defendants Indicted in One of Nations Largest-Ever Fentanyl Seizures
SAN DIEGO A long-term investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has led to one of the nations largest seizures of the deadly synthetic opiate fentanyl and a federal indictment against three alleged traffickers. According to the indictment unsealed today, Jonathan Ibarra, Hector Fernando Garcia and Anna Baker are charged with possession of 44.14 kilograms of fentanyl with the intent to distribute. Most of the fentanyl was seized from a house in Lemon Grove.
According to a search warrant affidavit, the defendants discussed the transportation of a then-unidentified controlled substance. On November 30, 2016, Ibarra received instructions to have a female courier, later identified as Baker, transport the narcotics in three separate trips on consecutive days. Based on this information, agents requested a traffic stop of Bakers rented vehicle and seized about 15 kilograms of a substance later determined to be fentanyl. Law enforcement officers then obtained a search warrant for Bakers residence, where they found about 30 additional kilograms of the same substance.
Drug traffickers use the pure fentanyl powder to increase the potency of heroin or to manufacture counterfeit opioid painkillers that resemble oxycodone. Due to fentanyls extreme potency - up to 50 times stronger than heroin - deaths from fentanyl-laced heroin and counterfeit pills are epidemic in the United States. Considering that just 3 milligrams is enough to kill an adult male, the 44.14 kilogram seizure represents over 14 million lethal doses. The attached photo, prepared by the San Diego County Medical Examiner, shows the lethal dose of fentanyl on a penny.
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