Photo Courtesy of DEA
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid that can serve as a substitute for heroin and frequently results in overdoses by users.
By Forum Staff
A Canadian woman has been indicted for her role in allegedly organizing a large shipment of fentanyl to Queens from Texas, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Aurora Betancourt, 35, has been charged with conspiring to distribute, and distribution of, fentanyl. She was arrested in Colombia on Dec. 28, 2018, and extradited to the United States last week.
According to the indictment, at a meeting in Rego Park, in July 2017, Betancourt conspired with others to transport narcotics from Houston, Texas, for distribution in the New York metropolitan area. The conspirators referred to the narcotics as “grasa,” a code for heroin. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration seized the shipment of the highly potent synthetic opioid in Texas before it could be transported. The total weight of the seizure was approximately 13 kilos, at the time the second-largest seizure of fentanyl by the DEA. Officials estimated the street value of the fentanyl in New York at approximately $800,000.
“Narcotics such as fentanyl and heroin are destroying lives and terrorizing communities across the United States, as well as here in New York. As alleged, the defendant showed a flagrant disregard for human life and public safety, by arranging with her associates to have a significant amount of fentanyl transported to New York,” said FBI New York Assistant Director-in-Charge Bill Sweeney.
If convicted of either count of the indictment, Betancourt faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.
