PHOENIX— At the end of February and again at the end of March, multiple defendants were charged in incidents involving the sale of fake Oxycodone pills containing deadly amounts of Fentanyl.

“If law enforcement had not been vigilant in stopping these crimes and preventing the public safety threat these pills posed to our community, lives very well may have been lost,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. “In the absence of the Legislature addressing the specific threat of fentanyl trafficking, my office will use all available tools to protect the public from this deadly threat.”

On February 27, 2018 officers stopped a car they believed had been involved in a drug sale. Investigators found approximately 4,000 fake oxycodone pills inside the vehicle that were later determined to contain fentanyl. Three men were taken into custody by officers in connection to the case, 37-year-old Rigoberto Herrera, 30-year-old Leonides Martinez-Escobar, and 32-year-old Santos Valdez-Lopez. Each of the defendants has been charged with possession of Narcotic Drugs for Sale, a Class 2 Felony.

On March 28, 2018 officers learned of a planned drug sale of 1,000 fentanyl pills marked to look like oxycodone. Investigators were able to arrest a man and woman in connection to the sale and recovered more than 600 fake oxycodone pills later determined to contain fentanyl. Prosecutors charged 29-year-old Edgar Camargo and 35-year-old Agueda Johnston with the Sale or Transportation of Narcotic Drugs, a Class 2 Felony.