Foreign National Accused of Possession and Distribution of Illicit Drugs, Including 17,000 Fentanyl Pills

Salt Lake City, Utah – A foreign national living in Utah was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City today for multiple federal drug crimes after agents allegedly seized methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and cocaine. 

According to court documents, Mauricio Hermosillo Becerra, 26, of Taylorsville, Utah, was stopped in a vehicle by members of the West Valley City Police Department and the Metro Narcotics Task Force on May 7, 2024, after leaving a residence under surveillance. As part of a larger investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the residence was under surveillance for alleged narcotics distribution in connection with a Las Vegas based drug trafficking organization.

As alleged in the complaint, during Hermosillo Becerra’s traffic stop, agents seized approximately three pounds of methamphetamine, several ounces of heroin and approximately 2,000 counterfeit M30 fentanyl pills from the vehicle. During the investigation, agents also seized 23 pounds of methamphetamine, 15,000 fentanyl pills, 2.7 pounds of heroin, and 239 grams of cocaine from Hermosillo Becerra’s residence in Taylorsville. All the narcotics field tested positive. 

Hermosillo Becerra is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and possession of heroin with intent to distribute. His initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for May 23, 2024, at 10:45 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), West Valley City Police Department, and the Metro Narcotics Task Force (MNTF). 

Special Assistant United States Attorney Kelsy B. Young of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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