Man indicted in Derby bust of $1.5M fentanyl scheme

BRIDGEPORT — A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted a man on fentanyl trafficking charges after Derby police stopped a tractor-trailer in December containing 55 pounds of the drug, worth $1.5 million, a press release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Connecticut said.

Prosecutors allege Omar Villarreal, of La Puente, California, traveled to Connecticut from October to November 2016 and coordinated the transportation and the planned delivery of the fentanyl with the driver of the tractor-trailer, Erick Crespo-Escalante, who was arrested in December.

Villarreal, 26, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, a controlled substance, aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl and traveling in interstate commerce to promote an unlawful activity, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Derby officers had stopped a tractor trailer Dec. 21, 2016, on Route 34. A search of the cab of the truckallegedly revealed a box that contained 25 kilograms (about 55 pounds) of fentanyl. The driver supposedly was delivering the shipment to a Waterbury location.

Villarreal has been detained since his arrest May 15, while Crespo-Escalante awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, fentanyl.