Phoenix man sentenced to 15 years for trafficking fentanyl, other drugs

PHOENIX — A Phoenix man was sentenced to 15 years in prison recently for trafficking drugs out of his home, authorities announced Wednesday.

A U.S. district judge in Arizona sentenced Jefferson Alejandro Lopez Alcaraz on Feb. 13, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

What led up to Phoenix man’s fentanyl trafficking conviction?

Lopez Alcaraz was arrested after Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents observed suspicious activity at his residence on Feb. 1, 2022.

They saw Jaime Solorio-Torres driving a Toyota Prius parking on the street and entering Lopez Alcaraz’s residence with a cooler.

After the two met up inside the residence, Solorio-Torres was seen leaving with the cooler and putting it into his vehicle before driving away.

DEA agents later stopped the Prius Solorio-Torres was driving. They found 6.5 kilograms of fentanyl pills inside the cooler,  prosecutors said.

Solorio-Torres was later sentenced to 57 months in prison, prosecutors said.

What authorities found ahead of fentanyl trafficking conviction

After discovering the fentanyl in Solorio-Torres’ cooler, authorities secured a search warrant for Lopez Alcaraz’s residence.

A search of his home led to the seizure of 9 kilograms of fentanyl pills, 248 grams of methamphetamine, around 239 grams of Xanax pills, 6.6 grams of cocaine, a drug ledger, $26,532 in cash and a cache of six firearms, authorities said.

Two of the firearms in his possession had been reported as stolen.

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