KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A California man is facing federal charges of trafficking fentanyl-laced pills through Kansas City.
While on patrol Wednesday morning at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Kansas City, Missouri, a detective with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department spotted a suspicious passenger that had just got off a bus that started in Los Angeles.
The passenger, later identified as Matthew Gomez, 27, agreed to talk with detectives and consented to a search of his backpack and a large duffle bag.
Zeus, a KCPD drug dog, alerted officers to the presence of drugs in the luggage. Further testing of the luggage revealed more than nine pounds of counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl.
Gomez was taken into custody and charged Thursday with one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
During an interview with detectives, Gomez allegedly said he knew he was transporting something illegal but did not know what. He told detectives he received a $500 payment to transport the drugs when he first left Los Angeles, with a promise of $2,000 if he successfully returned.
On Wednesday, KCPD said its officers had recently intercepted a brick of fentanyl that they allege could have killed “thousands.”
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