Rafael Maldonado-Solario, Fentanyl and Gun Crimes, Utah 2024

Fentanyl and Gun Crimes Plague Utah Community

A devastating blow to Utah’s fight against fentanyl and gun violence was dealt recently when Rafael Maldonado-Solario, a 46-year-old Salt Lake City resident, was indicted by a federal grand jury for drug and gun crimes.

According to court documents, Maldonado-Solario was under investigation by agents for allegedly distributing fentanyl in the Salt Lake Valley. On May 9, 2024, agents seized 2,290 grams of blue pills stamped M30 at Maldonado-Solario’s apartment in Salt Lake City. The pills were field tested and confirmed to contain fentanyl.

Law enforcement also seized a Taurus CCP .380 handgun inside Maldonado-Solario’s apartment. As a previously convicted felon, Maldonado-Solario is restricted from possessing a firearm.

Maldonado-Solario is charged with possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and illegal reentry of a previously removed alien. His initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for May 23, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated jointly by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Utah State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO). Assistant United States Attorney Cameron P. Warner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Drug Trafficking

Terry L Daugherty, Methamphetamine Delivery, Nevada 2023

Aug 11, 2021

Drug Trafficking

Grandison, Drug Trafficking, Maryland 1982

Nov 1, 1982

Drug Trafficking

Treva Edwards, Sex Trafficking, Forced Labor, New Jersey 2025

May 21, 2026

Drug Trafficking

Duane A. Andrews, Heroin Distribution, Virginia 2024

Jan 24, 2017