Federal authorities in Arizona have uncovered a large-scale fentanyl trafficking operation in which drug dealers disguised hundreds of thousands of pills inside roof shingles. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced that Carlos Rene Montes, 32, of Tucson, and Miguel Angel Sesma, 30, were arrested following a surveillance operation by the DEA Phoenix East Valley Drug Enforcement Task Force (EVDETF).
On March 10, investigators observed Montes drive an SUV into a Phoenix store parking lot, where he met Sesma, a permanent resident from Mexico living in Arizona. Montes was seen transferring “factory-sealed packages of roofing shingles” from his vehicle into the bed of Sesma’s pickup truck. Authorities later discovered that these packages contained fentanyl-laced pills.
“After Montes left the parking lot, EVDETF investigators conducted traffic stops on both the Jeep Cherokee and Ford F250. A Mesa Police Department Canine Detective conducted an open-air sniff of the Ford F250 and alerted to narcotics in the vicinity of the truck bed. Investigators searched Sesma’s truck and seized approximately 52 kilograms (114 pounds) of blue M30 pills laced with fentanyl, which were concealed in the roofing shingles. Sesma and Montes were subsequently placed under arrest,” a news release said.
Following his arrest, Montes reportedly admitted to having additional drugs at his home in Tucson. A consensual search of the residence led investigators to seize approximately 32 pounds of blue M30 pills containing fentanyl. In total, authorities confiscated around 700,000 fentanyl pills from the operation.
Montes and Sesma are now facing serious federal charges, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted, they could each face between 10 years and life in prison, along with a fine of up to $10 million. This case underscores the continued efforts of federal and local law enforcement to crack down on fentanyl trafficking, which has fueled the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States.
