Indicted Duo Hid Fentanyl In Children's Candy Packaging: Feds

HARTFORD, CT — Two Maryland men Thursday were indicted in U.S. District Court in Hartford court on fentanyl charges where the pills were packaged in Skittles and Nerds containers, candy brands that are popular with children.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, and Brian D. Boyle, special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced Friday a federal grand jury in Hartford Thursday indicted Oscar Flores, 34, of Mount Rainier, Md., and Severo Alelar, 25, of Hyattsville, Md., for fentanyl trafficking offenses.

The indictment charges Flores and Alelar with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and with possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Each charge carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.

Authorities said on Sept. 8, Flores, Alelar and others arrived in an SUV at a meeting location in Wethersfield to sell approximately 15,000 fentanyl pills to an undercover DEA agent.

Federal officials said after Flores showed the undercover agent a sample on the fentanyl pills, the agent indicated that he needed to travel to another location to pick up the money.

Flores, Alelar and the others followed the undercover agent’s vehicle as they traveled south into Rocky Hill, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Authorities said when a Rocky Hill police officer attempted to stop the SUV for a traffic violation, the SUV sped and ran over a roadside curb onto a grass area along the side of the road where law enforcement vehicles boxed it in.

Investigators searched the SUV and found numerous Nerds candy boxes and Skittles candy bags containing thousands of fentanyl pills, officials said.

“Trafficking fentanyl is already and undoubtedly a serious offense, but one doesn’t have to stretch their imagination too far to consider how disguising fentanyl pills in children’s candy packaging, as we allege, can result in even more tragic consequences in the community,” said Avery. “I thank the DEA Task Force members for their work in this investigation and for taking this substantial quantity of fentanyl off the street.”

“Fentanyl is causing deaths in record numbers and DEA’s top priority is to aggressively pursue anyone who distributes this poison in order to profit and destroy people’s lives,” said Boyle.

“Illegal drug distribution ravages the very foundations of our families and communities so every time we take pills containing fentanyl off the streets, lives are undoubtedly saved.

"This investigation demonstrates the strength of collaborative local, county and state law enforcement efforts in Connecticut and our strong partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s offices.”

Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.

Flores and Alelar have been detained since September 8, 2022.

This investigation is being conducted by the DEA’s Hartford Task Force, which includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program.