Charges: Mexican drug trafficking operation paid man to smuggle fentanyl into Minnesota

A man is charged with trying to sneak nearly 5 pounds of fentanyl through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Eduardo Alexander Santillan-Rivera, 24, was charged Monday by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office with first-degree sale of drugs and importing a controlled substance across state lines. He appeared in court Tuesday, and his next hearing is set for Nov. 25.

Santillan-Rivera remained in custody Saturday with bail set at $200,000. According to the charges:

Airport police became suspicious about a package arriving at MSP from San Bernardino, Calif., on Oct. 31, and had a drug detection dog inspect it. When the dog confirmed their suspicions. police drafted a warrant to investigate the contents.

They found nearly 5 pounds of fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and there are 453,592 milligrams in a pound.

Officers traced the package to the 2300 block of Garfield Avenue in Minneapolis, and left it there on Nov. 1 to see who would claim it. According to the charges, Santillan-Rivera arrived in a black sedan at around 11:40 a.m. to pick up the package. He walked it back to his car before police arrested him.

Santillan-Rivera at first said he was just stealing the package and didn’t know what was inside, but later admitted that he lied. He told investigators that a Mexican drug trafficking organization had paid him to move the package and that the same organization had paid him in the past to move cash and other deliveries. He added that he wanted to return home to Mexico.