Authorities nab 10K fentanyl pills; 2 arrested

Authorities say CLEVELAND — two Phoenix residents tried to smuggle 10,000 fentanyl pills into Cleveland last week, an attempt that stalled after a traffic stop in Oklahoma.

Agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Noemi Maldonado and Jose Cabrera and accused them of participating in a drug conspiracy. They are set to appear for detention hearings in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in the next few days.

The arrests mark the first significant charges of the year involving the synthetic opioid in Northeast Ohio. The drug has been responsible for the widespread increase in unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio and across the country in recent years.

The DEA estimates the value of a single fentanyl pill at $30 to $60 in Northeast Ohio, meaning the seizure’s street value could reach $600,000. Major drug organizations often press fentanyl into pill form, a move that makes the drug easier to transport.

An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland this week says Noemi Maldanado was driving from Phoenix to Cleveland with a package of pills last Friday when an officer in Canadian County, Oklahoma, stopped her 2016 Nissan Altima.

Officers brought a K-9 to the car, and investigators found the package, which weighed about 2.5 pounds. Investigators later discovered Maldanado was on her way to Cleveland, and someone was waiting for the package here, according to the affidavit.

The sheriff ’s department in Canadian County called the DEA’s Tulsa office, and officers worked with the Cleveland agents to coordinate a more significant arrest. Officers from Tulsa accompanied Maldanado to Cleveland, where she was to meet with Jose Cabrera at a downtown hotel shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the affidavit.

As soon as Cabrera approached Maldanado, officers arrested the pair, the affidavit said. They are being held in federal custody without bond until after the hearings.

Maldanado, 35, and Cabrera, 32, are from Phoenix. Maldando’s attorney, Leif Christman, said he had just met his client and could not comment.