Three more charged with shipping record amounts of fentanyl to Minnesota inside stuffed animals

Three more people have been charged in what law enforcement called the biggest fentanyl pill bust in Minnesota history, making it nine people now accused of using stuffed animals to conceal drug shipments from Arizona.

Prosecutors this week announced new conspiracy charges against Phyu Win Jame, 27, Amaya Tiffany-Nicole Mims, 23, and Da’Shawn Natori Domena, 24, and accused them of taking part in a conspiracy that ended in the seizure of more than 66 pounds of fentanyl pills being trafficked to Minnesota.

Like the six others charged before them, the three are being charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. A previously charged co-defendant, 27-year-old Fo’Tre Devine White of St. Paul, has also been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a machine gun. Prosecutors said one of two pistols White had in his possession was modified to fire multiple times with a single squeeze of the trigger.

According to charges, several defendants traveled to Phoenix to acquire fentanyl pills from suppliers and hid them inside stuffed animals to be mailed to addresses around the Twin Cities. The conspiracy is alleged to have spanned from August 2022 through December 2023.

Investigators from Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties conducted a joint investigation into the alleged trafficking operation and seized six packages that contained a total of more than 30,000 grams — or more than 66 pounds — of fentanyl pills.

Mims first appeared before a judge last month and entered a not-guilty plea. Jame also pleaded not guilty during his initial appearance on Monday. Messages have been left seeking comment from their respective attorneys. Domena was arrested in Indiana and will make his initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Minnesota later, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger’s office.

Others charged in this case include Cornell Montez Chandler Jr., 24; Robiel Lee Williams, 23; and Quijuan Hosea Bankhead, 30, all of St. Paul; along with Stardasha Christina Davenport-Mounger, 24, and Shardai Rayshell Allen, 24, both of Minneapolis.

Agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations also helped investigate.

Authorities in Minnesota and around the country have noted a surge in the trafficking of counterfeit pills disguised as prescription drugs such as oxycodone but actually containing fentanyl. Fentanyl is a potentially deadly opioid considered to be 50 times more potent than heroin.

It was involved in 92% of all opioid-involved deaths and nearly two-thirds of all overdose deaths statewide, according to the early data for 2022. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported in January that investigators recovered more than 417,000 pills last year, up 127% over 2022.

Recently unsealed charges against a 40-year-old Minnesota resident included allegations of a single traffic stop that rivaled the record bust involving nine defendants. According to charges, Minnesota state troopers seized more than 170 pounds of narcotics that included more than 60 pounds of fentanyl in both powder and pill form.

Star Tribune staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.