Nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder seized in drug trafficking operation on Colorado's Western Slope

Seven people have been arrested, accused in a drug trafficking operation in Garfield County on Colorado's Western Slope. According to investigators, approximately four pounds of methamphetamine, three ounces of cocaine, nine-and-a-half pounds of fentanyl powder, and approximately 220 fentanyl pills, along with a firearm, were seized.

The Garfield County Sheriff's Office said that suspects Sindy Vazquez Martinez and Osbaldo Ramirez-Andrade operated a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine and additional illegal drugs from Frisco to Rifle. Investigators said that they used their residence in Glenwood Springs, located 185 yards from the front door of the Glenwood Springs Middle School and 60 yards from school property, as a base to distribute illegal drugs. 

The task force and Drug Enforcement Agency began the investigation in January 2023. A total of seven suspects have been arrested on charges related to the investigation. Those include Martinez, 44, and Ramirez-Andrade, 24, along with Henry Trujillo Benites, 42, Julian Cruz Carrazco, 28, Jose Manuel Romo Gallegos, 39, Cordelia Suazo Reed, 60, and Juan Alberto Guevara-Regalado, 39.

The suspects have been charged with several criminal offenses including conspiracy to possess, distribute or possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute more than 112 grams of methamphetamine, unlawful distribution of more than 14 grams of methamphetamine, unlawful distribution of more than 4 grams of fentanyl, unlawful possession of more than 4 grams of methamphetamine, forgery, criminal possession of two or more blank financial transaction devices and criminal possession of a financial device, more than three & two different accounts.