Facebook drug sting results in arrests

APD ties 12 of city’s 42 slayings this year to dope deals

Albuquerque police say they arrested 10 people and seized a multitude of drugs — mostly fentanyl — during a monthlong operation targeting those who sell drugs on social media.

The operation was announced earlier this year by Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina after a spike in homicides, some of them related to drug deals done over social media platforms.

There have been 42 homicides in the city this year, and police say 12 of the victims were either buying or selling drugs.

It is unclear how many were using social media to do so, according to police.

“We identified a trend that was driving violent crime, and we are going after these offenders to put a stop to this activity,” Medina said in a statement. “We want to highlight these arrests to let people know we are watching and we are taking action.”

Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, said the operation resulted in the separate arrests of Kandace Chee, 36; Jailin Poncho, 18; Matthew Willingham, 24; Fidel Martinez, 24; Marcus Chavez, 23; Christian Benson, 21; Johnathan Garcia, 20; and Patrick Webb, 33.

In all, she said, police seized 2,976 fentanyl pills, 86 grams of methamphetamine, 15 grams of cocaine, two handguns and $7,700 in cash.

Court records show that police arranged most of the deals over Facebook in early April and used undercover officers to buy the drugs. Often, the suspects were arrested at a later date.

Atkins said two other men were arrested, one on a misdemeanor warrant and the other on a felony warrant, but it is unclear how they were targeted by the operation or involved in selling drugs over social media. Police seized $3,500 from one of the men.