Illegal Honduran Nationals Indicted Following Arrest and Seizure of Over 52,000 Fentanyl Pills and Cash

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – An indictment was unsealed charging three Honduran nationals, living in the United States illegally, with multiple drug crimes.  

Jairo Roney Cabrera-Escoto, 40, of North Carolina, Cristian Eriberto Romero-Soto, 24, and Daniel Jose Felix-Aleman, 24, both of Sandy, Utah, were indicted on April 16, 2025. Romero-Soto and Felix-Aleman were charged by complaint on April 10, 2025.

According to court documents, since November 2024, detectives with the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force began investigating a group of individuals for allegedly distributing illicit drugs throughout Salt Lake County. Throughout the investigation, undercover agents purchased fentanyl during several controlled purchases. On April 8, 2025, during the execution of search warrants on vehicles and a residence in Sandy, approximately 32,528 individual field-tested fentanyl pills, drug packing materials, and $42,137 were seized. Felix-Alleman was also located and subsequently arrested. On the same day, during the execution of additional search warrants on vehicles and a residence in Sandy, agents seized approximately 20,059 individual field-tested fentanyl pills, multiple cellphones, drug packaging materials, and $5,163. Romero-Soto was also located and subsequently arrested. Cabrera-Escoto was arrested on June 6, 2025, in the Middle District of North Carolina.  

Cabrera-Escoto, Romero-Soto, and Felix-Aleman are charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, and conspiracy to distribute heroin, among other offenses. Romero-Soto is also charged with reentry of a previously removed alien. Cabrera-Escoto will have his initial appearance on the indictment at a later date before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City. Romero-Soto and Felix-Aleman had their initial appearance on the indictment on April 18, 2025.

Acting United States Attorney Felice John Viti for the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case is being investigated jointly by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Utah County Major Crimes Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Special Assistant United States Attorney Peter Reichman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

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