DEA Seizes a Record 2.7 Million Fentanyl Pills in Albuquerque: 16 Arrested Across Five States
Attorney General Pamela Bondi joined the leadership of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on May 6, 2025, to announce that DEA agents in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, had seized 2.7 million fentanyl pills, the single largest seizure of fentanyl pills in the agency's history.
The seizure capped a monthslong investigation. During an enforcement operation in the last week of April 2025, agents from the DEA's Albuquerque District Office seized the pills in the state's largest city; coordinated search warrants were executed across multiple states, 16 individuals were arrested, and drugs, cash, firearms and luxury vehicles were seized as federal authorities dismantled what they called one of the largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations in U.S. history. In total, the DEA seized more than three million fentanyl pills and 11.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and the agency said the 2.7 million pills alone equated to nearly 1.5 million potentially deadly doses taken out of circulation.
In Albuquerque alone, agents seized about $610,000 in cash, 49 firearms (some fitted with switches and some ghost guns), 396 kilograms of fentanyl pills, 11.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, 3.5 kilograms of heroin and seven pounds of methamphetamine, along with two vehicles valued at about $140,000. In Salem, Oregon, agents seized more than $2.8 million in cash and about $50,000 in jewelry; in Layton, Utah, about $780,000 in cash; in Phoenix, Arizona, about $390,000 in cash, 72 pounds of methamphetamine and 13 kilograms of fentanyl pills; and in Las Vegas, Nevada, more than $93,000 in cash and 2.7 kilograms of cocaine.
Prosecutors say Heriberto Salazar Amaya, 36, led the trafficking organization. He and 13 others are charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, seven defendants face additional fentanyl distribution charges, and Salazar Amaya faces three additional immigration-related charges: illegal reentry after deportation, hiring an unauthorized alien, and conspiracy to harbor unauthorized aliens. Three more people were charged by criminal complaint, including Phillip Lovato, accused of keeping about 110,000 pills at a Santa Fe stash house; Roberta Herrera, from whose apartment agents seized about 365,000 pills and 24 firearms; and Misael Lopez Rubio, accused of storing about 165.5 kilograms of fentanyl pills in a rented storage unit.
"This historic drug seizure, led by the DEA, is a significant blow against the Sinaloa Cartel that removes poison from our streets and protects American citizens from the scourge of fentanyl," Bondi said. DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said that behind the three million pills seized were "destructive criminal acts thwarted, and American lives saved." U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico said the operation dismantled one of the largest and most dangerous fentanyl trafficking organizations in U.S. history.
The DEA's El Paso Division led the investigation with assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico is prosecuting the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in Oregon, Arizona and Utah. The case is part of the Justice Department's Operation Take Back America. An indictment or criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. (Source: Drug Enforcement Administration)
Source: Drug Enforcement Administration
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国国税局总部大楼（资料图）。协助缉毒局调查本案的国税局刑事调查局隶属国税局。Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building in Washington, D.C. (file photo). IRS Criminal Investigation, which assisted the DEA in this case, is part of the IRS. Carol M. Highsmith, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
