Glendale man arrested at border and charged with fentanyl trafficking

INDEPENDENT NEWS MEDIA

A 20-year-old Glendale man was arrested and charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to resell, authorities said.

David Quintero-Mascareno, 20, was arrested on July 1 after a Customs and Border Protection dog trained to detect narcotics alerted agents stationed at the Lukeville border crossing, according to a news release from the Arizona District Attorney’s Office.

According to a complaint, Quintero-Mascareno drove to the entry point in a gray Dodge Ram pulling a trailer with an all-terrain vehicle.

Quintero-Mascareno said he returned to the United States from Puerto Penasco in Sonora, Mexico, and “filed a negative customs declaration regarding contraband,” the press release said.

After being alerted by the dog, CBP officers found approximately 234 packages of blue pills marked “M30” hidden in the trailer’s floorboards and rails, officials said. A field test of a representative sample of the pills tested positive for fentanyl. The packages weighed a total of nearly 1,000 pounds.

If convicted of possession of 400 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to resell, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, a $10 million fine, or both, and a maximum sentence of five years’ probation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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