Nov. 28—The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office seized 65,000 fentanyl pills and three guns during a search of an apartment near East Central on Tuesday.
Richard Cortez, 44, who authorities said lived in the apartment, is charged with drug trafficking and three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Michael Herrera, 18, who was in the apartment at the time of the raid, is charged with resisting, evading or obstructing an officer for failing to surrender “for more than 30 minutes.”
Both men were booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. Neither man had an attorney listed in online court records.
Court records show Cortez was sentenced to prison for drug trafficking in 2010 and then bounced back and forth between prison and probation for years after repeated violations.
According to court records, a BCSO deputy arrested Cortez in 2016 for drug possession. Cortez faced another possible prison sentence, but the case was dismissed and Cortez was released after the deputy failed to appear in court.
Prosecutors filed a motion to hold Cortez until trial after Tuesday’s seizure, calling him “dangerous.”
“The defendant is a major dealer of fentanyl in the Albuquerque area,” the motion said. “He had three firearms ready to use.”
It is unclear how Herrera was tied to the apartment where the drugs and weapons were allegedly found.
Court records show Herrera has been on probation since being released from a brief prison stint in a case in which he rammed a stolen car into a deputy’s vehicle in February.
Herrera has had two misdemeanor cases against him dismissed in the past year: one because witnesses failed to show up in court and another “pending further investigation,” according to court records.
BCSO spokeswoman Jayme Gonzales said Tuesday’s drug raid was “part of an ongoing investigation related to a recent incident involving the use of a vehicle in an attempt to run over a BCSO Metro Unit deputy.”
It is unclear whether Gonzales was referring to Herrera’s previous conviction, and she did not immediately respond when asked for clarification.
In a statement, Sheriff John Allen said the seizure of drugs and weapons was “a testament to the determination and courage” of officers from the BCSO Metro Unit, which was recently formed to patrol Albuquerque’s urban areas.
“These deputies are not only proactive, but are not afraid to meet challenges head-on. As we anticipate further expansion of this unit, I am confident in their continued impact in making Albuquerque a safer place for everyone,” said Allen. “Their efforts don’t just stop crime; they deter it and make a marked difference throughout our community.”
A deputy from BCSO’s Metro Unit was conducting surveillance on an apartment at 329 Pennsylvania NE, north of Central, and observed multiple “hand-to-hand transactions” of drugs, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. A person “left unnamed to maintain confidentiality” told Deputy Cortez that he lived in the apartment and sold drugs “to support himself.”
On Tuesday, officers went to the apartment and used a loudspeaker to tell everyone inside to surrender, with Cortez coming out first. Deputies said Herrera also came outside after a half hour and was detained.
Officers searched the apartment and found thousands of fentanyl pills in a briefcase and three handguns, according to the complaint. Cortez told officers the apartment was his, but “he had no idea about the pills” and the guns “weren’t his.”
Cortez told officers he was taking “blues,” slang for fentanyl, but was only taking 25 pills at a time, the complaint said.
