Star Staff Reports
Agents with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force seized five pounds of fentanyl, one pound of black tar heroin and approximately 2,500 unidentified pills believed to be Oxycodone from a traffic stop, officials said.
Last week criminal interdiction agents conducted a traffic stop on a 2010 Mercedes on Interstate 40 in Shelby County near the Fayette County line for violation of the window tint law.
After questioning two California men in the vehicle, agents became suspicious and utilized canine Harper, a certified narcotics detection dog to conduct a free-air sniff around the vehicle. Canine Harper alerted to the presence of a narcotic containing odor coming from the vehicle.
An extensive search of the vehicle disclosed a natural void located within the vehicle that had been converted into a compartment to transport contraband. Once opened, the compartment was found to contain the suspected fentanyl and black tar heroin, as well as thousands of 30 milligram tablets believed to be Oxycodone.
The California men identified as Jovanni Viera, 47, and Luis Santillan Cruz, 28, were arrested and are in the Shelby County Jail on $1 million bonds each.
“If you were to put a pencil to the numbers for this seizure, it would be absolutely terrifying,” said Task Force Director Johnie Carter. “Less than a quarter of a milligram of fentanyl could kill the average person, and the amount seized here is enough for every person in Shelby County to overdose more than nine times over. This was a seriously deadly load.”
The West Tennessee Drug Task Force Criminal Interdiction Unit is made up of deputies and officers assigned full time from the 25th Judicial Drug Task Force, Memphis, Germantown and Oakland Police Departments and the Fayette and Haywood County Sheriff’s Departments. Follow us on Facebook @WTNDTF and Twitter @WESTTNDTF
