SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man is now facing drug trafficking charges after police say he was caught holding nearly a half-pound of fentanyl near a bus station at Salt Lake City International Airport. Joel B. Alarcon, 32, was arrested Tuesday.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 13 News, the FBI and Davis Metro Narcotic Strike Force began investigating a possible drug trafficking operation in June. During the investigation, detectives say they learned that Alarcon would be allegedly trafficking drugs from Arizona to Utah.
On Tuesday, police obtained a search warrant to search Alarcon and any personal property that he had with him. Officers say they spotted Alarcon exiting a Greyhound bus at the airport with a backpack.
Officers attempted to contact Alarcon when he started running away from officers. Investigators say he was stopped after he ran through a bus drop-off roadway.
Once detectives were able to search the bag that Alarcon had with him, they say they found 195 grams of a white powdery substance that Alarcon admitted to be fentanyl he was intending to sell.
Joel Alarcon faces charges of failure to stop at the command of law enforcement and trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl related substances. He is being held without bail.
