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SALT LAKE CITY — Two men from Magna are in federal custody facing drug possession charges after federal agents reported recovering more than 63,000 fentanyl pills.
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City on Wednesday indicted Lenin Rafael Rodriguez-Villafranca, aka "Jose Santiago Funez Villafranca," 23, and Onesy Basilo Avilez-Flores, aka "Rafael Flores Onesy Basilo," 22, on charges of possession of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine with the intent to distribute and reentry of a previously removed alien, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In May, the FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force opened an investigation into Rodriguez-Villafranca and other members of a drug-trafficking organization suspected of distributing narcotics in Utah, according to a criminal complaint.
While conducting a search at Rodriguez-Villafranca's residence on June 6, agents saw Avilez-Flores with blue pills, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Avilez-Flores allegedly tried to run back into the residence and dispose of the pills, but federal agents recovered counterfeit blue M-30 pills on the floor and in the toilet.
Agents found approximately 6,288 grams of field-tested positive fentanyl — which totals about 63,000 pills — as well as 2,737 grams of heroin and 1,096 grams of cocaine, according to federal prosecutors.
The two men are scheduled for a court appearance for their indictment on Friday at 11 a.m. in U.S. District Court.
