Police Bust Nets 15K Fentanyl Pills in Phoenix

The Mesa Police Department in Arizona announced the arrests of two suspected drug traffickers and the seizure of 15,000 fentanyl pills.

The investigation began when members of the Mesa Police Department Organized Crime Unit received a tip on October 17, related to suspected drug activity in West Phoenix. The information led investigative personnel to the Travel Lodge Hotel located north of Interstate 10 at 1424 N. 50th Avenue.

According to a Mesa Police Department media release, detectives learned two individuals were engaged in the possession and sales of drugs at the hotel. Investigators observed a female reportedly identified as Marisol Beltran Marquez, 42, in the parking lot. Investigators noted the woman’s vehicle matched an intel description and investigators began to tail it. During a traffic stop, a K9 reportedly alerted to the presence of drugs inside the car. A search led to the discovery of 15,000 fentanyl pills, 16 pounds of heroin, 20 pounds of methamphetamine, and over 20 pounds of cocaine, according to local reports. Investigators estimated the street value of the drugs at $600,000.

Beltran-Marquez and her teen daughter went to the hotel after she received a call from her nephew, identified as Jeusef Roberto Beltran Arenas, police say. Beltran Marquez claimed her nephew was arrested earlier in the day and asked her to go to the hotel and pick up his property. Marisol allegedly retrieved a duffel bag and two suitcases containing drugs and loaded them into her vehicle. Beltran Marquez left the hotel in her car when the police later stopped her.

Investigators found approximately one ounce of cocaine underneath the bed of the hotel room that was later determined to have been rented by Beltran Arenas. Beltran Arenas was previously arrested for alleged drug violations earlier in the day by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Both Beltran Arenas and Beltran Marquez were charged with multiple counts of possession and possession for sale of drugs.

No information has been released as to the immigration status of both suspects. Most police agencies in the Phoenix metro have a policy of shielding immigration statuses from the media.

In March of this year, Breitbart Texas reported on the seizure of 15,000 fentanyl pills and the arrest of a previously deported illegal immigrant from Mexico in the same area at a Motel 6. The previously deported alien was arrested by Phoenix Police narcotics detectives and was later identified as a “leader of a local cell responsible for the sale and distribution of 50,000 fentanyl pills, multiple pounds of methamphetamine and heroin per month.”

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce completed work assignments in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year tour in Monterrey, Mexico, for the U.S. Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program.