Ruben Lopez, Fentanyl Possession, Missouri 2024

St. Charles Residents Face Fentanyl Trafficking Charges

St. Louis - Two St. Charles residents, Ruben Lopez, 27, and Jonathen Aguilar, 31, were taken into custody on June 10, 2024 after federal search warrants revealed a large cache of fentanyl in their apartments.

According to a criminal complaint, federal investigators intercepted a suspicious Priority Mail package addressed to an apartment in the 2000 block of Avignon Drive in St. Charles. The package, which contained a one-kilogram brick of fentanyl, was concealed inside clothing and had a return address in La Mirada, California.

Lopez brought the package inside the residence, and investigators entered soon thereafter to execute another warrant for the residence. Inside, they found a Glock 27 .40 caliber handgun and two machines capable of encapsulating drugs.

Another warrant executed yesterday in the 400 block of Molina Way, also in St. Charles, revealed a second quantity of approximately one kilogram of fentanyl and $19,000 in cash. Two kilograms of fentanyl carry a street value of more than $100,000.

Lopez and Aguilar are charged with possession with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, a charge carrying a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. They are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty.

These charges are a result of a joint investigation between the St. Louis Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the St. Charles County Police Department, the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force, the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the St. Peters Police Department.

“Through our strategic, investigative operations we removed more than 1.5 million potentially lethal doses of poison from hitting the streets of St. Charles County,” said Special Agent in Charge William J. Callahan of the DEA St. Louis Division. “The DEA’s mission is clear and we will continue to disrupt, dismantle and destroy drug trafficking organizations who impact our communities.”

St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar added, “I am proud of the collaboration between the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force, St. Peters Police Department, St. Charles County Police Department, DEA and the United States Postal Inspector. It’s outstanding efforts like these that cut off the supply lines fueling the opiate epidemic that plague our communities.”

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/two-st-charles-residents-charged-possession-two-kilograms-fentanyl