OC Man Charged After More Than 40 Pounds Of Fentanyl Seized From Home

SANTA ANA, CA — A 60-year-old man is facing several drug charges after the Orange County District Attorney's Office said it seized more than 40 pounds of fentanyl from his Fullerton home.

Alfonso Gomez-Santana was charged Friday with one felony count of selling or transporting a controlled substance and two felony counts of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to sell. If convicted of the charges, he faces up to six years and eight months in county jail, the district attorney's office said.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Gomez-Santana remains in custody at the Theo Lacy Facility on $3 million bail.

Gomez-Santana was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol during a traffic stop Wednesday in Fullerton, authorities said.

During a search of his vehicle, the district attorney's office said officers found four kilograms of fentanyl — or just under nine pounds of the substance.

As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill an adult, according to the OCDA's office.

CHP officers then searched Gomez-Santana's home and found 20 kilograms of fentanyl, equivalent to about 40 pounds, as well as 122 grams of methamphetamine and $250,000 in fentanyl pills, the district attorney's office said.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said it was "unconscionable" that Gomez-Santana had enough fentanyl to potentially kill 12 million people and only face "just a handful of years in jail."

Spitzer called on harsher penalties against convicted drug dealers.

"Fentanyl is a national epidemic that killed more than 100,000 Americans last year and it’s not going to stop unless we have the tools as prosecutors to hold these drug dealers and drug manufacturers accountable for peddling death," Spitzer said.