An employee of a service provider at Los Angeles International Airport and another South Bay man have been charged with possessing nearly 24.3 pounds of fentanyl that authorities allege was intended to be transported on a flight to Minnesota, officials announced Monday.
Miguel Angel Tuz-Noh, 24, of Lennox, who works at LAX, and Anthony Olvera, 23, also of Lennox, are charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Both defendants were arrested last week and made their initial appearances Friday in Los Angeles federal court. A magistrate judge ordered each of them released on $10,000 bond with arraignments scheduled for Sept. 17.
According to an affidavit, law enforcement officials believe Tuz-Noh has ties to a drug trafficking organization. On Aug. 19, law enforcement observed Tuz-Noh and Olvera attempt to exchange narcotics in a men’s restroom at one of the airport’s terminals, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said that soon afterward, law enforcement detained both defendants and opened a duffle bag Olvera had carried. Inside the duffle bag were 10 brick-type packages containing a total of nearly 24.3 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid, the DOJ alleges.
Law enforcement believes Olvera had agreed to fly with the fentanyl to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, court documents show.
If convicted as charged, the defendants would each face a sentence of between 10 years and life imprisonment, the DOJ said.