Federal prosecutors in New York have filed federal drug trafficking charges against two people who were reportedly arrested by Mexican authorities last month, during a raid of a suspected massive fentanyl lab, court records show.
The defendants have been identified as Saul Manuel Aispuro-Cordero and Doreida Guadalupe Beltran-Aispuro. Both were arrested at the lab in a March 3 raid that was conducted by the Seguridad Publica de Sinaloa and the Mexican Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, court records show.
The complaint against both defendants says they're being brought to the United States to face federal charges after Mexican authorities turned the case over to the DEA.
The fentanyl was allegedly being pressed into blue pills for importation into the United States. During the raid, authorities found an estimated 657,000 pills containing fentanyl, as well as several storage boxes containing a precursor.
A Ford pickup truck containing two boxes full of fentanyl pills was parked outside. Authorities also found two 9mm pistols during a search of the lab.
A DEA agent wrote in court records she believed the fentanyl in the truck was being readied to be smuggled across the border.
"The United States is the largest and closest market for narcotics produced in Mexico and so there is probable cause to believe that fentanyl produced in Sinaloa would ultimately be transported to the United States," DEA special agent Danielle Dreyer wrote in court records. "In fact, based on my training and experience, I have learned that the majority of the fentanyl that is loaded onto trucks in Sinaloa, Mexico is imported into the United States."
An arraignment date for both defendants has not yet been set, court records show.
Scroll above to view court records and images of the bust.
Written by: Nate Gartrell
