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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Valley man was charged in federal court Wednesday with trying to sell thousands of fentanyl pills to a confidential informant.
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security and Utah State Bureau of Investigations say they set up a sting operation in the parking lot of a Taylorsville liquor store July 19, during which a confidential informant was to purchase 20,000 fentanyl pills.
Bryan Guadalupe Diaz-Lopez, 21, pulled up near an undercover vehicle and tried to conduct a sale when law enforcement converged, searching his car to find a black duffle bag with four-gallon plastic baggies containing around 3.83 kilograms of suspected fentanyl pills, according to court documents.
Agents then searched a hotel room associated with Diaz-Lopez and said they found more drugs. In total, between his car and hotel room, investigators reported finding 23 kilograms (more than 50 pounds) of fentanyl pills, over 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of suspected methamphetamine, 34 grams of suspected heroin, and 76 grams of suspected cocaine.
A police booking affidavit indicates officers found 38,000 fentanyl pills in the car and about 200,000 fentanyl pills in the hotel room.
Diaz-Lopez admitted "that he distributes narcotics in the Salt Lake Valley" in an interview after arrest, according to court documents.
He is charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Aug. 2.
