It sounded just like a plot out of Breaking Bad.
Authorities allowed the driver who was caught ferrying a record haul of pure fentanyl powder to continue his trip in the hopes he would lead them to drug kingpins in Indiana.
But first, the Drug Enforcement Administration put a tracker on his car.
Then they lost him.
David Alejandro Maldonado, 26, had agreed to cooperate but somewhere on the open road he changed his mind, took it off, and fled, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Denver Gazette.
Maldonado was stopped on Interstate 70 while headed toward the Front Range with enough fentanyl to kill tens of millions of people has now eluded federal authorities for three weeks, according to the arrest affidavit.
The Colorado State Patrol had stopped Maldonado for weaving through traffic just east of the Eisenhower Tunnel on I70 on June 18. A state trooper questioned him and, with the help of a drug-sniffing K9, discovered 114 pounds of fentanyl.
The secret stash was packed in 48 one-kilo packages stuffed in two compartments underneath the seats.
As first reported by The Denver Gazette, the haul was the largest amount of pure fentanyl powder ever seized on a U.S. highway.
Maldonado’s whereabouts have since become a mystery. He is wanted on $250,000 bond for two class 1 drug felonies involving unlawful distribution, sale and possession of a narcotic and for importing that substance into Colorado.
Clear Creek County District Judge Cynthia Jones signed an arrest warrant June 21, three days after Maldonado was stopped.
It's unclear where Maldonado shook off law enforcement. But after being questioned by authorities on June 18, Clear Creek County Sheriff Rick Albers confirmed that Maldonado spent at least one night in the Clear Creek County jail.
On June 19, according to the warrant, after Maldonado agreed to cooperate with a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation, he was released by authorities to continue his run, minus the fentanyl, in order to lead law enforcement to the kingpins of the criminal organization in South Bend, Indiana. It was after he was released with a tracker on his car that he “eluded DEA surveillance and removed the tracker from his vehicle,” according to the affidavit.
In a statement to The Denver Gazette, the DEA confirmed that Maldonado is on the run: “The defendant was offered the opportunity to work with the DEA to further the investigation. Subsequently after agreeing, he changed his mind and was able to (elude) law enforcement. He is now considered a fugitive.”
At a press conference announcing a recent drug bust in Aurora Wednesday, DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Besser said that he wants the public to know that positive work is being done when it comes to stopping the spread of fentanyl. "We are not asleep at the wheel," he said.
According to the arrest warrant, Maldonado was nervous during the initial stop even though he was only given a warning, and he lied about where he had been on his drug-running road trip. On the front seat, he had snacks and energy drinks as if he were on a beeline to his destination.
Maldonado told investigators that he was headed to South Bend with the drugs. The arrest warrant indicated that a license plate scanner identified his vehicle in Southern California 24 hours before he was stopped in Colorado. A check with the South Bend police confirmed that they knew about the bust, "and that it may have been heading toward the South Bend area." Spokeswoman Ashley O'Chap said in a text message that the department was grateful to law enforcement for stopping the deadly haul before it reached South Bend.
Alicia Wells, spokeswoman for Allendale Treatment in Indiana, said fentanyl is a huge problem in South Bend because it is a hub for bigger cities like Chicago and Detroit. Overdoses are so prevalent that the Joseph County Sheriff’s Office has installed free Narcan vending machines at its offices.
Eighty-three South Bend residents died of fentanyl overdoses in 2021, and 2022 is on track to eclipse that number. Wells was stunned by the amount of pure fentanyl headed to her area.
“We’re relieved to hear that the fentanyl didn’t make it to South Bend. The fact that 114 pounds of pure fentanyl didn’t make (it) here is huge. There will be so many lives spared because of that traffic stop.”
DEA spokesman Steve Kotecki said the 114 pounds of pure fentanyl powder found in Maldonado’s vehicle is undergoing testing and will eventually be incinerated. It was recovered after drug-sniffing dogs alerted troopers to the drug while Maldonado requested a bathroom break three miles from where he was stopped.
The implications of the drug runner’s mega-haul are astounding. If pressed into pills, the 114 pounds of fentanyl powder would equal 51 million milligrams. At two milligrams per pill, the powder represents as many as 25 million fentanyl pills, according to the DEA.
The I-70 bust had the potential to kill 25 million people — more than four times the population of Colorado.
In 2021, the DEA seized 20 million fake pills nationwide.
Investigative sources said Maldonado is a U.S. citizen from Iowa.
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Denver Gazette reporter Chris Osher contributed to this story.
