Three residents of Hollywood, Florida, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and nitazenes. Josue David Balaguer, 35, and Marcos Geovanny Beltre Olivo, 39, each received sentences of 141 months. Joel Medina, 36, was sentenced to 48 months.
According to court documents, the group conspired beginning in early 2024 to distribute pressed pills through the mail for online drug distributors operating on both the open web and dark web. The pills were marketed as pharmaceuticals but contained controlled substances including nitazenes, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. Law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on September 11, 2024, recovering hundreds of thousands of pressed pills along with equipment used for manufacturing and packaging.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida announced the sentences along with officials from several agencies involved in the investigation: FBI Miami Field Office; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division; U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG); U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI) Miami Field Office; and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The case was investigated by FBI Miami, DEA Miami, HSI Miami, USPIS Miami, USPS-OIG, FDA-OCI, and PBSO. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Funk prosecuted the case.
According to the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment report https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl, nitazenes are synthetic opioids similar to fentanyl but can be equally or more potent. Nitazenes have appeared in fentanyl mixtures in the United States since 2019 and can increase the risk of fatal overdose when combined with fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and even small amounts can be deadly https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html#. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 150 people die daily from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MEC/Publications-and-Forms/Documents/Drugs-in-Deceased-Persons/2022-Annual-Drug-Report-FINAL-(1).aspx. In Florida alone in 2022, more than 5,622 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl or its analogs.
“Synthetic drugs such as fentanyl are poisoning the nation. Fentanyl has proven to be a deadly poison that does not discriminate. Its victims include every gender, race, age, and economic background, and its debilitating effects are the same across all demographics,” said officials in a statement from the press release.
You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.
Related court documents can be found at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 24-cr-80112.
