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LEHI — A man was arrested Monday after police say he drove to Arizona to pick up approximately 5,200 fentanyl pills and brought them back to Utah to sell.
Larry Glenn Jones, 39, was booked into the Utah County Jail and charged on Wednesday in 4th District Court with two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor; driving on a denied license, a class C misdemeanor; and speeding, an infraction.
The Utah County Major Crimes Task Force "obtained information that Larry Glenn Jones was involved in the distribution of large quantities of fentanyl throughout Utah County," according to a police booking affidavit.
On Sunday, task force members kept surveillance on Jones as he traveled to Phoenix and then "immediately" returned to Utah after "briefly resting at the Arizona/Utah border," the affidavit states.
On Monday, Jones was pulled over on I-15 in Juab County for allegedly going 95 mph in an 80 mph zone and while driving on a denied license, according to the affidavit. A police K-9 did an exterior sniff of the car and indicated the possible presence of drugs inside, which agents say gave them probable cause to search the vehicle.
"Concealed underneath the center console, detectives located a box containing approximately 5,200 blue pills identified as fentanyl and a small baggie which contained 30 grams of a white crystal substance which field tested positive for methamphetamine," the arresting officer wrote, while also noting a "fentanyl pill has an estimated street value in Utah County of $5 to $7. Most heavy users will only consume approximately 10 pills per day. 5,200 fentanyl pills have the estimated street value of $26,000 to $36,400."
When questioned, Jones told agents 1,000 of the pills were for him and 4,000 were for "someone else," the affidavit alleges.
At the time of his arrest, detectives were preparing to serve a search warrant at Jones' Lehi home, where they said they expected to find firearms.
