2 Convicted After Nearly 80 Pounds Of Fentanyl Found in Philly: Feds

PHILADELPHIA — Two men were convicted in federal court recently after authorities found them in possession of a total 36 kilograms, nearly 80 pounds, of fentanyl in 2020.

United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said Gabriel Rivera-Otero, 39, of Philadelphia, and Angel Reyes-Valdez, 48, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, were convicted at trial of possession with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and maintaining a drug houses.

Reyes-Valdez was also convicted of illegal reentry after deportation.

On Oct. 28, 2020, Rivera-Otero and Reyes-Valdez met in a parking lot in Philadelphia to transfer six kilograms of fentanyl between them, authorities said.

DEA agents arrested both men after finding fentanyl in a diaper box on the front passenger seat of Rivera-Otero’s vehicle.

That same day, DEA agents searched two separate Philadelphia residences where Rivera-Otero and Reyes-Valdez stored and packaged large quantities of controlled substances, authorities said.

At the residence used by Rivera-Otero, agents found about 700 grams of fentanyl, drug packaging material, and drug manufacturing equipment.

At the residence used by Reyes-Valdez, agents found about 30 kilograms of fentanyl, including numerous brick-shaped packages of the drug and over 110,000 fentanyl pills, as well as drug packaging material, drug manufacturing equipment, a loaded firearm, and over $90,000 in U.S. currency.

Both have prior felony drug convictions in the United States and Reyes-Valdez had been previously deported from the U.S. to the Dominican Republic three times between 2007 and 2014.

"Imagine the human damage that 36 kilograms — about 80 pounds — of fentanyl could have done on the streets of Philly and beyond," Romero said. "We and our law enforcement partners will continue to battle the dealers and traffickers endangering our communities just so they can profit from the tragedy of the opioid epidemic."

Rivera-Otero faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Reyes-Valdez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.