MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The Miami-Dade Police Department on Thursday announced the arrests of two brothers who are accused of trafficking Fentanyl.
According to authorities, detectives worked in an undercover capacity to make a deal earlier this year to purchase 10,000 Fentanyl pills that have a street value of $440,000.
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Police said the suspects, David Hernandez, 22, and Justin Hernandez, 19, agreed on the price and drove down to northwest Miami-Dade from California to complete the transaction.
According to their arrest reports, once they got to the agreed upon location, the duo removed the spare tire from their Chevrolet Silverado, uncovering four vacuumed-sealed bags, containing Fentanyl M30 pills.
They were then taken into custody.
Police said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials assisted detectives with recovering an additional two vacuum-sealed bags of Fentanyl M30 pills that were also concealed inside the tire.
The Hernandez’s were each charged with trafficking Fentanyl.
According to their arrest reports, David Hernandez claimed he was offered $10,000 to drive down to Miami to “drop off a delivery,” and then picked up his brother in Albuquerque, New Mexico, offering him $5,000 to help him drive.
He also said he was in a financial situation which caused him to take the job offer, the arrest report stated.
Although they were arrested on May 29, Miami-Dade police told Local 10 News that certain aspects of the case needed to be cleared before the information could be publicly released.
As of Thursday, David Hernandez remained held at the Metrowest Detention Center in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
“I am extremely proud of our world class Police Department and their commitment to fighting crime, protect(ing) our residents and ensuring the safety of our community,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement. “This operation is proof of the exemplary work MDPD is doing to stop the Fentanyl epidemic that is affecting so many in our community.”
“I am extremely proud of the diligent efforts and steadfast dedication by my Narcotics detectives in ridding our streets of dangerous drugs, which ultimately saves lives,” Interim Director Stephanie V. Daniels added. “We are committed to keeping our communities safe and will use every resource available to investigate and arrest any individual(s) that puts our residents in harm’s way.”