500,000 Fentanyl Pills Sent To Monmouth By California Man: Feds

Two California men were arrested Wednesday in connection with a large-scale opioid distribution conspiracy that shipped at least 500,000 fentanyl pills to Monmouth County, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Andrew Tablack, 26, of Beverly Hills, California, and Stephan Durham, 43, of Altadena, California, both were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of cyclopropyl fentanyl, Fitzpatrick's office said. Tablack also was charged with distribution of 400 grams or more of cyclopropyl fentanyl, the news release said.

According to federal prosecutors, a search warrant executed at a Monmouth County residence resulted in the seizure of a substantial quantity of controlled substances, including approximately 300,000 cyclopropyl fentanyl pills that authorities allege had been shipped by Tablack to New Jersey.

Tablack and his customers across the United States, including New Jersey, allegedly used the Dark Web – a part of the internet that is not accessible without specific software – to arrange shipments of quantities of cyclopropyl fentanyl to various places throughout the country. Tablack also used end-to-end encrypted communication applications to take orders for fentanyl from customers in New Jersey, according to the complaint.

The fentanyl was shipped to residential addresses in Monmouth County where the buyers could arrange to intercept the packages before they were delivered, the complaint said. Customers paid Tablack with Bitcoin, a form of cryptocurrency that is increasingly common in the narcotics trade due to its relative anonymity.

One such set of packages, mailed by Tablack in September 2017, was intercepted by law enforcement when it reached New Jersey, the complaint said; it agents found they contained 226,520 cyclopropyl fentanyl pills that weighed nearly 20 kilograms.

Authorities also allege Tablack maintained a pill production facility in California. Shipping records revealed Tablack had purchased at least nine pill press machines that were shipped to an industrial building in California, the complaint said.

Records showed a company ostensibly run by Durham was registered as the lessee of that industrial property, the complaint said.

Authorities allege Tablack bought fentanyl from a laboratory in China that shipped the packages disguised as food and beauty products; law enforcement officers in California were able to intercept several additional packages sent from various parts of Asia bound for properties controlled by Tablack and Durham, including fentanyl and dies used to mark illicitly manufactured pills, the complaint said.

The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a potential maximum penalty of life in prison, and a $10 million fine.

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