Accused Drug Dealer Charged After Allegedly Possessing 43 Pounds of Blue Fentanyl Pills, $33,000 and Other Illicit Drugs

Salt Lake City, Utah - A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned an indictment today charging a foreign national living in Utah with drug crimes after agents allegedly seized 43 pounds of blue M-30 fentanyl pills and other narcotics.

According to court documents, Elder Alberto Ahumada-Castro, 29, of Murray, Utah, was suspected by federal agents of distributing drugs in the Salt Lake Valley. On April 10, 2024, Ahumada-Castro was spotted by agents overnighting at a motel in Murray, Utah. After obtaining a search warrant for Ahumada-Castro's vehicle and motel room, agents located and seized approximately 2800 blue M-30 fentanyl pills, approximately $33,000, and a larger amount of blue M-30 fentanyl pills that weighed 43 pounds, 4 ounces. The pills field tested positive for properties of fentanyl. Ahumada-Castro was arrested.

Prior to Ahumada-Castro's arrest, court documents allege that on April 3, 2024, he possessed with the intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine in the District of Utah.

Ahumada-Castro is charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. His initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for April 22, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

U.S. Attorney, Trina A. Higgins, of the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case is being investigated jointly by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Special Assistant United States Attorney Ryan Holtan of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.

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