(The Center Square) – Numerous people have been charged and sentenced in the Dallas area for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine in the past few months. The news comes after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Dallas division seized nearly 15 million lethal doses of fentanyl and more than 7,000 pounds of methamphetamine last year, enough to kill nearly 33 million people.
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas charged five adults with trafficking fentanyl after 10 juveniles in Carrolton were poisoned with the drug, three of whom died, in February.
On March 10, an 18-year-old Flower Mound man living with his parents was charged with conspiracy to distribute a schedule II-controlled substance. He was allegedly supplying fentanyl to a Carrollton dealer also connected to two other dealers and a supplier who were all allegedly connected to the juvenile overdoses, authorities said. In the 18-year-old’s possession were multiple bags containing 1,000 blue counterfeit M/30 pills that tested positive for fentanyl, an FN 5.7 pistol, and an AR-15 platform rifle, according to the criminal complaint.
In February, the Carrollton dealer, a juvenile dealer, and a Carrollton couple were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for their involvement leading to the juvenile overdoses. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in federal prison.
“Fentanyl is killing our kids. We are angry about it. We are heartbroken about it. And we are determined to do all we can about it,” U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said when announcing the charges.
“The overdose and poisoning margin of error between life or death is microscopic,” DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chávez said about fentanyl. “We all have a role in this fight. Because it is a fight. It is a fight for our families, it is a fight to curb substance abuse, and it is a fight to hold criminal drug networks accountable for their actions.”
Also in March, a Wichita Falls drug dealer who sold fentanyl to a 27-year-old who suffered a fatal overdose was sentenced to nearly 18 years in federal prison. A co-conspirator was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison, according to Simonton’s office.
On Feb. 10, three individuals were sentenced for their involvement in running a fentanyl pill-pressing operation. The ringleader was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Codefendants were sentenced to 15 and 11 years in federal prison.
“One of the scariest things about fentanyl is that drug traffickers press it into pills that look identical to real pills containing other medications, meaning many users are buying and ingesting these counterfeit pills off the street without knowing they contain a drug 100 times more potent than morphine,” Simonton said. “Fentanyl is tearing through our communities at an alarming rate, poisoning our friends, our family members, and worst of all, our children. We will not rest until we stop this killer drug from circulating in our communities.”
Also in February, two brothers connected to the Mexican Cartel de Jalisco Nuevo Generación were sentenced to a combined 70 years in federal prison for methamphetamine and money laundering offenses. One brother, a 45 year-old Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, and his brother, a 33-year-old legal resident, were charged in March 2021. They pleaded guilty in February and November of last year to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering. The legal resident received concurrent sentences to federal prison; 40 years on the drug charges, 20 years on the money laundering charges. The Mexican national was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
In January, the head of a Fort Worth drug trafficking operation and his associate were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The kingpin was allegedly a multi-kilogram distributor of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana in Fort Worth’s “stop six” neighborhood, the DEA announced. In three of his alleged stash houses, agents found and seized 500 grams of suspected fentanyl, 400 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 16 firearms, and a large amount of U.S. currency. If convicted, they each face up 10 years to life in federal prison.
As part of their investigation, DEA agents found over 100 counterfeit blue M-30 pills (Mexican oxy) that tested positive for fentanyl, multiple kilograms of excipient and a short barrel rifle. In a storage facility, they also found thousands of additional pills and other controlled substances, including 45 grams of M-30 pills laced with fentanyl, 100 grams counterfeit hydrocodone pills laced with fentanyl, 174 grams of counterfeit Xanax bars laced with fentanyl, 576 grams of counterfeit ecstasy pills laced with fentanyl, 1,248 grams of methamphetamine, a bag of blue excipient laced with heroin, and a 9mm pistol previously reported as stolen, according to the complaint.
Two grams of fentanyl and 150 milligrams of meth are considered lethal doses, according to AddictionResource.com. The amount seized translates to 11.4 million deadly doses of fentanyl and 21,167,626 lethal doses of meth, enough to potentially kill nearly 33 million people.
