Three South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and nitazenes. The individuals—Josue David Balaguer, 35; Marcos Geovanny Beltre Olivo, 39; and Joel Medina, 36, all from Hollywood, Florida—pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene.
On July 30, Josue David Balaguer received a sentence of 141 months in federal prison. The following day, Marcos Geovanny Beltre Olivo was also sentenced to 141 months. On August 1, Joel Medina was sentenced to 48 months.
Authorities reported that the defendants began their conspiracy in early 2024. They distributed pressed pills via mail for both open web and dark web drug distributors across the United States. These pills were marketed as pharmaceuticals but actually contained controlled substances such as nitazenes, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. During a search on September 11, 2024, law enforcement recovered hundreds of thousands of pressed pills along with pill presses and packaging equipment.
The case involved several agencies: the FBI Miami Field Office; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division; U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG); U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), Miami Field Office; and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida announced the sentences alongside leaders from these agencies.
"FBI Miami, DEA Miami, HSI Miami, USPIS Miami, USPS-OIG, FDA-OCI, and PBSO investigated the case."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Funk prosecuted the case.
According to information from the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment report [https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl], nitazenes are synthetic opioids similar to fentanyl but can be equally or even more potent than fentanyl itself. Since 2019, various forms of nitazenes have been detected mixed with fentanyl in drugs found across the country. When combined with fentanyl these substances increase potency and raise the risk of fatal overdoses.
Fentanyl is considered highly dangerous due to its strength—up to fifty times stronger than heroin and one hundred times stronger than morphine—even small doses can be lethal [https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html#]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that synthetic opioids like fentanyl are now responsible for most overdose deaths nationwide [https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html#]. In Florida alone there has been a significant rise in such cases: over 5,622 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl or its analogs during 2022 [https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MEC/Publications-and-Forms/Documents/Drugs-in-Deceased-Persons/2022-Annual-Drug-Report-FINAL-(1).aspx].
Further details about this case can be found at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl or through court records under case number 24-cr-80112 at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
