Two Mexican men who were arrested last year with more than 1 million fentanyl pills will each spend a decade in prison.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Florencio Camacho Allan, 29, and Gerardo Gaxiola Patiño, 30, were each sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for scheming to distribute the potentially deadly narcotic.
The two men pleaded guilty in April to felony charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
A third man, Alex Valdez Oroz, 26, also pleaded guilty to the same charges and is due to be sentenced in September.
According to the DOJ, from September 2022 to March 2023, the three men planned to distribute fentanyl on behalf of a Mexican drug broker.
In one instance, the unnamed drug broker arranged a deal with a U.S. buyer which was set to take place in the Los Angeles area. The buyer agreed to purchase an estimated 2 million fentanyl pills at a price of about 75 cents each, the DOJ said.
The deal was supposed to take place on March 7, 2023, and the broker arranged for Allan to meet the buyer at a Denny’s restaurant in El Segundo in order to complete a “sample” purchase of about 10,000 fentanyl pills.
Allan and Patiño met the buyer and an associate inside the restaurant, while Oroz waited outside in their vehicle. The men discussed with the buyer the plan to sell 1 million more fentanyl pills later that day, followed by another 1 million-pill deal the following day.
After the meeting, the four people went to the car where Oroz was waiting and retrieved a black bag containing more than 10,000 fentanyl pills weighing about 2.5 pounds, and exchanged it for $7,500
Allan later video-called one of the buyers and showed them the additional pills in the back of the car’s trunk. They agreed to do the deal for the 1 million pills in a Holiday Inn parking lot later that day.
But it was law enforcement that actually showed up to the deal, taking the three men into custody and searching their vehicle. In the car, authorities found at least three duffel bags in the trunk and backseat that each contained bundles of fentanyl pills weighing more than 240 pounds combined.
The men were arrested and have remained in law enforcement custody through their respective trials.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from local law enforcement and the California National Guard.