North Ridgeville Man Charged For Importing Opioids

NORTH RIDGEVILLE, OH - A North Ridgeville man has been charged in federal court with attempting to possess and with intent to distribute a synthetic opioid, similar to fentanyl, law enforcement said on Friday. Daniel Rogerson-Wise, 33, allegedly tried to have the fentanyl analogue mailed to a house in North Ridgeville from China.

Homeland Security Investigations and US Customs and Border Protection detected a package containing fentanyl en route to the US from China. Agents examined the package on March 13 at the North Ridgeville Post Office, according to an affidavit. The package was being sent to a home on Grant Drive in North Ridgeville and had a return address in Hong Kong.

Agents said the package contained a white crystallized substance. After testing, the substance was determined to be nearly 10 grams of FluoroIsoButyryl fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.

The packages kept on coming though. A second parcel containing the fentanyl knockoff was shipped to the same address on Grant Drive, with another return address in Hong Kong, HSI says. Again the package was intercepted by law enforcement, and again the FluoroIsoButryl substance was found inside the package.

Rogerson-Wise was then contacted by an undercover law enforcement officer, posing as a postal employee. The undercover agent asked if Rogerson-Wise was expecting the package from Hong Kong. Rogerson-Wise confirmed he was expecting it. Law enforcement swapped out the synthetic opioid in the package and then made the delivery to the Grant Drive home, the affidavit says.

Law enforcement then watched as Rogerson-Wise approached the Grant Drive home and allegedly opened the parcel. After being confronted by law enforcement, Rogerson-Wise allegedly said he thought the opioid was legal in the US. He also allegedly said that he had 30 grams of the substance shipped to him from China.

Police say they learned that Rogerson-Wise may have had a residence in Cleveland on Ignatius Avenue. Police searched that residence and found Rogerson-Wise's birth certificate, a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver, and two notebooks, according to the affidavit.

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