2 Men Sold 100,000 Fentanyl Pills In Hudson County Shopping Center Parking Lot: Feds

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Two men were arrested after they sold 100,000 fentanyl pills to an informant in a parking lot in North Bergen last Thursday, federal prosecutors said this week.

Pablo Suruy Hernandez, 41, of Guatemala, and Giovanni Guzman, 41, of El Salvador, were charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said Wednesday.

Hernandez was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The pair appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacey D. Adams in Newark federal court on Monday and were detained.

According to the complaint in the case, last month, law enforcement officials received information that Hernandez was involved in narcotics trafficking in New Jersey.

A confidential source began meeting with Hernandez in mid-January "to discuss the potential purchase of firearms, fentanyl, and cocaine," prosecutors said.

The source bought a firearm from Hernandez on Jan. 21, the complaint says.

Then, the pair discussed the purchase of 100,000 kilograms of fentanyl.

According to the complaint, Hernandez later said he didn't actually have access to 100,000 kilograms. So the pair agreed that the informant would buy 100,000 pills instead.

Last Thursday, according to the complaint, Hernandez picked up the informant near in the vicinity of 7801 Tonnelle Avenue, North Bergen, which is a Lowe's Home Improvement store parking lot. Hernandez then drove the informant "to a nearby parking lot in the vicinity of 7605 Tonnelle Ave."— which is the address of Home Depot.

At that point, according to the complaint, Guzman got into their vehicle vehicle with a black backpack.

The backpack contained plastic bags filled with approximately 100,000 blue pills, prosecutors say. They were tested and "contained a detectable amount of fentanyl and weighed approximately 11 kilograms," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors then executed a search warrant at Hernandez's home and found $65,000 in cash, they said.

The fentanyl conspiracy and distribution counts carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, the maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $10 million fine, officials said.

The possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000, prosecutors said.