Honduran illegal immigrant previously deported 3 TIMES charged with possessing 124,000 fentanyl pills in Salt Lake City

An illegal immigrant living in Salt Lake City, Utah has been charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and reentry of a previously removed alien. 

Gustavo Flores-Hernandez, a 31-year-old originally from Honduras, is believed to have been holding on to over 124,000 pills of the lethal substance.

According to the Department of Justice, Flores-Hernandez allegedly sold the fentanyl to people across the Salt Lake City area. On March 21, detectives with the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant at his apartment and discovered 124,044 blue pills weighing a combined 12,404 grams. A field test confirmed that they were fentanyl.

Flores-Hernandez entered the apartment a short time later and was promptly arrested. He was found to have been carrying around $9,000 in cash and 500 blue pills.

On March 27 he was indicted by a federal grand jury, and appeared before a Magistrate judge at the Orrin G Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City to face charges five days later.

According to KSL, court documents revealed that Flores-Hernandez "was interviewed and admitted to detectives that he distributes fentanyl throughout the Salt Lake Valley and that he sends approximately $8,000 per month back to Honduras."

Flores-Hernandez, described as a "foreign national living in Utah," was deported from the United States "on or about July 14, 2011, May 9, 2018, and July 16, 2019," and each time managed to re-enter the country without going through the proper channels.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. The amount of powder that can fit on the lead tip of a pencil is enough to kill the average person.

In 2023 alone, the DEA seized over 79.5 million pills laced with fentanyl and 12,000 pounds of pure fentanyl powder, the equivalent of over 376.7 million lethal doses.