Undercover officers buy ounces of heroin, find kilos stored away, police say

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TAYLORSVILLE — An undercover drug bust led to the discovery of a couple of kilos of heroin, according to police.

Ernesto Pintado-Medina, 40, was arrested and charged in federal court Thursday with felony drug distribution.

Investigators believe he is living in the U.S. illegally, according to the charges filed in U.S. District Court, and he was deported to Mexico by the Department of Homeland Security in 2010 and 2014.

On Feb. 28, undercover Unified police and Homeland Security officers arranged to meet Pintado-Medina for a drug deal, the charges state. They met him near 5400 South and Redwood Road to buy a few ounces of heroin, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. When he arrived, he was arrested.

According to the charges, Pintado-Medina told police that in his home they would find several thousand dollars that he'd gotten from selling heroin.

During a subsequent search of his home, 1314 E. Old Mission Road (7930 South), investigators found "approximately 2.5 kilos of field-tested positive heroin and approximately $6,800 in U.S. currency," the report states.

Medina has been convicted of drug distribution in other states and has previously been deported for not being a legal U.S. citizen, according to the report.