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Press Release

Rhode Island Man Admits to Shipping Fentanyl to Australia

For Immediate Release
District of Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, RI – A Providence man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges filed in a five-count federal indictment that alleged that on multiple occasions he attempted to export fentanyl from the United States to Australia, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Felix Suarez, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl; two counts of attempt to distribute a controlled substance; unlawful export of a controlled substance; and unlawful use of a communication facility to facilitate the distribution of a controlled substance. Suarez is scheduled to be sentenced on August 1, 2024. The defendant’s sentences will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to information presented to the court, on December 30, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized an outbound parcel destined to Sydney, Australia, shipped two days earlier from Providence via FedEx. The parcel, which listed a return address belonging to Suarez and declared to contain “DOCUMENTS,” was found by CBP officers to contain approximately 37 grams of fentanyl. 

On January 17, 2023, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was notified that Australian Federal Police had seized a second package mailed to the same identified recipient in Sydney. The package carried the same return address in Providence as the package mailed in late December 2022; the package’s contents were listed as “DOCUMENTS/INVOICES.” Australian authorities examined the package and found it to contain approximately 25 grams of fentanyl.

Further investigation by HSI determined that on January 10, 2023, surveillance camera footage from the UPS store in Providence where the second package was mailed from shows Suarez obtain a brown envelope from the store, return to his vehicle where he manipulated the envelope before re-entering the store with the envelope and mailing it. The envelope matched the description of the envelope seized by Australian law enforcement.

Import records from the Australian Department of Home Affairs established that from January 2020 to January 2023, the defendant shipped 67 parcels to the same recipient in Sydney, Australia. Each parcel had a similar weight (between .1kg and .455kg) and were similarly identified as “DOCUMENTS/PAPER.”

The case in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.

The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Protection, Australian Federal Police, Australian Department of Home Affairs, Providence Police Department, Warwick Police Department, and Central Falls Police Department. 

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Contact

Jim Martin

(401) 709-5357

Updated May 3, 2024

Topic
Drug Trafficking
Press Release Number: 24-49