The Orange County District Attorney has filed charges against two people who allegedly possessed 821 pounds of meth, 189.7 pounds of cocaine, and 20.5 pounds of fentanyl in their minivan.
Edgar Alfonso Lamas, 36, and Carlos Raygozaparedes, 53, were leaving a Buena Park, California, home in a minivan when police officers pulled them over March 17. The fentanyl in their possession alone was enough to kill 4.7 million people, according to the district attorney’s press release Wednesday.
“Fentanyl is cheap, it’s easy to get, and it is killing our children, our coworkers, and tens of thousands of innocent Americans who don’t have to die,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “Drug dealers don’t care about you or your loved ones — they only care about their bottom line and making as much money as possible.”
DC POLICE ARREST TWO PEOPLE LINKED TO FATAL BATCH OF FENTANYL THAT KILLED NINE
“With fentanyl in an estimated 40 percent of street drugs, it’s not a matter of if but when someone you know and love dies from fentanyl. We have to continue to do everything we can to combat this deadly drug epidemic and save lives,” Spitzer said.
California saw nearly 9,000 overdose deaths in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fentanyl accounted for over a third of deaths, with California’s Department of Public Health reporting 3,946 fentanyl-involved deaths in 2020. Last November, Spitzer committed to charge drug dealers with murder should their drugs, especially fentanyl, result in a person’s death.
Spitzer charged Raygozaparedes and Lamas with one felony count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell, three felony counts of sale or transportation for sale of a controlled substance, four felony enhancements total for possessing controlled substances over 20 kilograms, and two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.
They face a sentence of up to 37 years and four months if convicted.
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Raygozaparedes and Lamas both pleaded not guilty. However, they remain in custody on $5 million bail. Their first preliminary hearing is June 7.
