Foreign National Charged with Multiple Drug Crimes

Press Release

FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force takes 35,000 fentanyl pills off the streets of SLC

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned an indictment charging a foreign national living in Utah with multiple drug crimes after he was arrested for allegedly possessing narcotics.

Luis Refugio Brindas Guzman, 27, of Salt Lake County, was initially charged by complaint on October 4, 2024, in the District of Utah.

According to court documents, in July 2024, the FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force, began a criminal investigation of Guzman and other members of a drug trafficking organization suspected of distributing large quantities of narcotics in the District of Utah. In October 2024, undercover officers arranged to purchase a large quantity of methamphetamine. Guzman arrived at the site of the purchase in a Nissan Rogue. During the search of the Nissan Rogue, agents seized approximately 6,682 grams of field-tested positive methamphetamine, two grams of field-tested positive heroin, and a marijuana roach (the end of a joint). Guzman was arrested.

Agents then executed a search warrant at Guzman's residence and seized approximately 7,145 grams of field-tested positive methamphetamine, 1,215 grams of field-tested positive heroin, 3,587 grams of field-tested positive fentanyl, and a 9mm handgun. The fentanyl was estimated at approximately 35,000 fentanyl pills.

Guzman is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and reentry of a previously removed alien. His initial appearance on the indictment was October 31, 2024, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force (WMDTF).

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal
organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven,
multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Updated November 1, 2024