John E. Childress Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana
Javier Moreno-Garibaldi, a 38-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison with an additional two years of supervised release. This sentence follows his guilty plea for distributing over 400 grams of fentanyl.
Court documents reveal that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) initiated an investigation in May 2023 into a drug trafficking organization based in Mexicali, Mexico. The group was suspected of smuggling large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine through California into Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky.
During this investigation, undercover officers orchestrated a purchase of 60,000 fentanyl pills from an unidentified supplier in Mexicali. Communications between the parties involved detailed arrangements for delivery at an Evansville hotel, including financial transactions amounting to $120,000 plus a $2,500 delivery fee.
On September 4, 2023, Moreno-Garibaldi arrived at a Holiday Inn in Evansville driving a Honda SUV with California plates. He met with an undercover officer and agreed to move to a safehouse for counting the pills and money. Moreno-Garibaldi transferred a dog kennel box filled with pills into the officer’s car before being arrested without resistance. A search revealed approximately 70,000 counterfeit "M-30" pills containing fentanyl.
John E. Childress, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana stated: “Every overdose, addiction, and life lost to fentanyl is a tragedy that devastates our families, friends, and communities... Our office remains committed to working alongside the DEA...to aggressively investigate and prosecute those involved in these deadly networks.”
Daniel J. Schmidt from the DEA remarked: “Without a doubt, lives were saved by this seizure of 70,000 fentanyl-laced M30 pills... DEA is committed to targeting and destroying drug trafficking organizations who continue to attack our communities.”
The case was investigated by several law enforcement agencies including the DEA and local police departments. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young imposed the sentence while Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren M. Wheatley prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a Department of Justice initiative aimed at eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
The DEA warns that as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal depending on various factors such as body size and tolerance levels.
The agency also advises against consuming street-bought pills due to their potential lethality when laced with substances like fentanyl—emphasizing that "One Pill Can Kill."
