Kelvin Baez-Adames, Fentanyl Trafficking, Nebraska 2023

Fentanyl Trafficking Ring Busted in Nebraska

A brazen fentanyl trafficking operation has been dismantled in Nebraska, bringing an end to a conspiracy that saw counterfeit pills being shipped from the Bronx to the Midwest. Kelvin Baez-Adames, 32, of Bronx, New York, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the scheme.

Baez-Adames was sentenced on December 20, 2023, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, after he pleaded guilty to participating in a fentanyl drug conspiracy. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher handed down the sentence, which includes no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Baez-Adames will be placed on a 5-year term of supervised release.

The operation, which ran from August 2021 to May 4, 2022, saw Baez-Adames and his co-defendant, Kiara Jimenez, use an online company to sell M-30 pills utilizing Bitcoin. The pills were counterfeit and contained fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.

An undercover operation was launched by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Omaha after pills were seized in Nebraska with the moniker 'THEMESSIAH11.' The agency purchased 60 blue pills, later identified as fraudulent M-30 pills containing fentanyl, which were sent in a Crunch N' Munch box to prevent detection.

Surveillance was conducted in the Bronx, where codefendant Kiara Jimenez was observed leaving Baez-Adames' apartment to deliver 10 packages. All of the packages were intercepted by DEA and contained fentanyl inside Crunch N' Munch boxes. On May 4, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Baez-Adames' apartment and seized fentanyl pills, drug paraphernalia, and several cases of Crunch N' Munch.

Baez-Adames is responsible for one kilogram of fentanyl analogue. His co-defendant, Kiara Jimenez, has pleaded guilty to fentanyl drug conspiracy and will be sentenced on January 24, 2024. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ne/pr/man-sentenced-fentanyl-drug-trafficking-conspiracy