Amid Magerramov, Conspiring to Import Fentanyl, New York 2021

Grimy Times Exclusive:

An Estonian man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a massive fentanyl conspiracy that saw him import massive quantities of the deadly opioid into the United States.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced that Amid Magerramov, 40, of Estonia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to import large quantities of carfentanil and fentanyl into the United States.

About 1,000 times more potent than heroin, carfentanil is used commercially to sedate large animals such as elephants, but in the hands of Magerramov and his co-conspirators, it was a deadly poison that was being smuggled into the United States to fuel the opioid crisis.

According to court documents, Magerramov conspired to import massive quantities of carfentanil and fentanyl into the United States between October 2017 and August 2018. He participated in a series of meetings and telephone communications with an individual he believed to be affiliated with an international drug trafficking organization, for the purpose of arranging to import narcotics into the United States.

The individual, a confidential source working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, informed Magerramov that he was a member of a Colombian drug cartel that distributed narcotics in the United States and laundered the resulting proceeds.

Magerramov and his co-conspirators prepared and distributed a total of over five kilograms of substances containing carfentanil for importation into the United States. In mid-October 2017, Magerramov met with the confidential source in Estonia, where he agreed to provide the source with fentanyl in Denmark, with the understanding that the fentanyl would be transported to the United States, mixed with heroin and other controlled substances, and sold to the cartel’s customers in New York City, among other places.

Magerramov coordinated the delivery of samples of carfentanil to the confidential source in Denmark in May 2018. On May 9, 2018, Magerramov and his co-conspirators delivered three samples of narcotics to an agreed-upon location in Denmark, which were seized by law enforcement and found to contain approximately 550 grams of mixtures and substances containing carfentanil.

In late May 2018, Magerramov arranged to have additional carfentanil delivered to the confidential source for importation into the United States. On May 30, 2018, one of Magerramov’s co-conspirators delivered a package of narcotics to an agreed-upon location in Denmark, which was seized by law enforcement and found to contain approximately 5.2 kilograms of mixtures and substances containing carfentanil.

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