Man says he found 900 fentanyl pills next to slot machine
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EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury has leveled drug and conspiracy charges against a New Mexico man claiming he found 900 fentanyl pills next to an electronic bingo machine at an Indian casino in El Paso
The indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas stems from the Jan. 24 arrest of Las Cruces resident Carlos Javier Morales at Speaking Rock Casino on South Old Pueblo Road in El Paso.
A criminal complaint alleges that an Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo tribal police officer was alerted by a canine companion to the presence of illegal drugs inside a gray 2017 Toyota with New Mexico license plates in the parking lot of the casino. The officer looked through the window and saw suspected drugs in the passenger area and a pistol under the front passenger seat, according to the complaint.
The officer, also a member of an FBI task force, reviewed surveillance video from the casino and identified the three men who came to the casino in the Toyota. Law enforcement officials later identified the three as Morales, Gabriela Rodriguez and Jose Salas, court documents show.
Tribal police detained the trio and focused on Morales when he allegedly refused to remove his hand from the pocket of his jacket. The lead officer removed Morales’ hand from the jacket’s pocket and observed a bag of blue pills sticking out, records show.
An FBI agent assigned to the El Paso Field Office later examined the 900 or so fentanyl pills and determined them to be “excessive for somebody who is only a drug user and consistent with somebody who was distributing fentanyl,” the complaint states.
Tribal police also searched the Toyota with owner Rodriguez’s consent and found trace amounts of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the passenger area and a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol under the front passenger seat, according to court records.
In an interview with the FBI, Morales said Rodriguez was giving him and Salas a ride home from El Paso to Las Cruces but stopped at the casino because Morales “had $200 and wanted to gamble,” records show. The suspect claims he found a large bag of fentanyl pills beside a slot machine and put it in his pocket before being detained by tribal police.
Located in Texas, the casino owned by the Tigua Indians of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo operates Class II gaming machines – which may look like slot machines but are essentially electronic bingo, according to trade websites.
According to the complaint, Morales stated he had been out of work for a month, and when pressed further invoked his right to an attorney and declined to say more.
A federal grand jury in El Paso charged him with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The U.S. government also is seeking forfeiture of the 9mm gun, a magazine and seven additional rounds of 9mm ammo.
Border Report reached out to Speaking Rock Casino for comment and is awaiting a response.
