United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan, New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, Acting Superintendent of the New York State Police Keith M. Corlett and Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Angel M. Melendez announced today that a California man was arrested and charged in connection with his role in driving into New Jersey with a tractor trailer containing suspected fentanyl and cocaine.

Jose Santos Garcia Guzman, 43, is charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately 53 kilograms (116 pounds) of suspected fentanyl and cocaine. He is scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The DEA's New York Strike Force, Group Z-43, arrested Guzman today in Middlesex County, N.J. During an investigation into a drug trafficking organization, law enforcement officers learned that a narcotics shipment was en route from California to the Northeast via tractor trailer. Group Z-43 located the tractor trailer driven by Guzman and conducted a vehicle stop in Keasbey, N.J.  

Strike Force officers found the suspected fentanyl and cocaine within boxes of Tupperware contained within the tractor trailer. The organization had replaced the Tupperware from Tupperware boxes with kilograms of fentanyl and cocaine, then stacked more Tupperware boxes on top. Law enforcement subsequently field tested the substances; approximately 46 kilograms tested positive for the presence of cocaine, and approximately seven kilograms tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

The count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life in prison, and a $10 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited the New York Strike Force, Group Z-43, with the investigation. The New York Strike Force is a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

The Strike Force is housed at the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, the U. S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, New York National Guard, the Clarkstown Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Port Washington Police Department and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito also thanked New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan for assisting in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Williams, chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office OCDETF/Narcotics Unit.

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