Thousands of fentanyl pills found in a microwave

Anti-drug agents arrested Julio Gonzales Jr., 18, in Carrolton, Texas, who kept thousands of fentanyl pills in a microwave oven and may be related to the death of four young people by overdose, local media reported Sunday.

The Univision channel said that the US drug enforcement agency (DEA) suspects that Gonzáles Jr. was one of the “main sources” of fentanyl distribution in North Texas.

Since September 2022, four minors have died from an overdose of fentanyl in that area, according to information from the North Texas District Attorney’s Office, the last one a 15-year-old girl last June, a case for which there are already two detainees and accused, Lizbeth Prieto, 19, and Christian López, 24.

According to Univision, at least five witnesses, including a 16-year-old teenager, accused of being a drug dealer, identified Gonzales Jr. through photographs as “J-Money”, the “source” in the drug supply.

The young man can be sentenced to 40 years in prison if he is found guilty of “conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.”

US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton said that with Gonzales Jr., “another domino in the series of juvenile fentanyl overdoses in Carrollton” has fallen.

In the house where the drugs were found, a kilogram of cocaine was also found inside a plastic container for food, cash, and numerous firearms.

Part of the communication between “J-Money” and street dealers and potential customers was done through social media, specifically an Instagram account, authorities said.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has set off alarm bells in the United States, causing two-thirds of the 110,000 drug overdose deaths in the country last year, a record number.