ST. GEORGE — An anonymous tip led to the recovery of more than 108,000 suspected counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl during a traffic stop near the Southern Parkway Exit over the weekend.
On Saturday, officers received information that was called into the St. George Consolidated Communications Center anonymously involving a vehicle that was expected to be traveling through the area carrying a significant amount of illegal narcotics.
According to charging documents filed with the court, the reporting party said the vehicle, described as a white Nissan Quest, would be heading into Utah within the next few hours.
Officers stationed themselves on Interstate 15 near the Port of Entry to watch for the vehicle, and just before 8 p.m., officers spotted a Nissan with Texas plates heading north into Utah.
As the Nissan approached, police say it appeared that after the driver noticed the patrol vehicles stopped at the state line and rapidly decelerated.
“I then entered the Interstate to follow the vehicle and upon doing so, the driver quickly activated the right turn signal and began to take the exit for the north bound port of entry,” the officer notes in the report.
But instead of exiting, the driver allegedly swerved back into the travel lane without signaling, continued traveling below the posted speed limit and then took the Southern Parkway Exit.
Officers noticed that one of the vehicle’s brake lights was inoperable and several air fresheners hanging from the Nissan’s rearview mirror were “obstructing the windshield,” prompting the officer to conduct a traffic stop at the Sun River Parkway and Pioneer Drive intersection in St. George, the report states.
While speaking to the driver, who was identified by her Mexican passport as 27-year-old Jazmin Tentory-Ortega, of Houston, Texas, the officer noticed that other than a dark-colored duffle bag covered with a sweater, the vehicle was completely empty.
While the officer was speaking to the driver, a K-9 officer was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff around the exterior of the vehicle, and when the animal indicated the possible presence of narcotics, a search of the vehicle ensued.
Inside the duffle bag, officers reportedly found 10 plastic-wrapped packages that were heat-sealed and smelled of gasoline, a tactic that police say is commonly used by smugglers to mask the odor of narcotics and prevent a canine from detecting the drug.
Each of the packages was filled with small round pills consistent with counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl, the report states. Counterfeit pills are made to look like prescription opioids but are commonly laced with methamphetamine or fentanyl and are more lethal than ever, according to information posted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The packages had a combined weight of 24 pounds, which is the equivalent of more than 108,000 individual pills.
These illicit pills have become extremely popular but are also extremely potent, the officer wrote, which has caused a “significant rise in drug-related overdoses.”
The driver was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility. She was charged with second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and four traffic-equipment violations.
The packages were reportedly picked up in California and destined for Denver, Colorado, and evidence indicated that the Nissan was purchased a few days prior to the traffic stop.
According to illicit drug pricing in Denver, the street value of the seized pills totaled more than $1.6 million.
Based on her statements, which indicated that her entire family lives in Mexico, officers requested that Ortega be held without bail since she has no ties to Utah. As such, police said Ortega posed a significant flight risk if released.
The request was approved and a no-bail order was signed by District Judge Jay Winward shortly after the arrest. The case is under review at the Washington County Attorney’s Office and Ortega remains in custody without bail at this time.
Deadliest drug threat
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat the United States has ever faced, and Utah is no exception,” said U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah in a statement released in April.
Tuesday is recognized as National Fentanyl Awareness Day, an annual effort by the DEA to educate the public on the serious dangers of fentanyl poisoning from fake pills and other illicit drugs.
According to the DEA, fentanyl has saturated the drug market in Utah. It is cheaper, more potent, and more widely available than ever before, and over the past few years, Utah has experienced a rise in overdose/poisoning incidents that are directly linked to fentanyl.
In 2023, DEA seized more than 79.5 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, which is more than 376 million lethal doses of the drug. So far this year the DEA has seized 17.9 million fentanyl-laced pills and 1,813 pounds of fentanyl powder, which is the equivalent of nearly 94 million doses.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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