A pair of brothers are facing fentanyl trafficking charges after police said they traveled to Miami-Dade to complete a deal for 10,000 pills with buyers who turned out to be undercover officers.
David Hernandez, 22, and Justin Hernandez, 19, were arrested in the undercover bust, Miami-Dade Police officials said Thursday.
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According to police, the undercover officers had arranged to buy 10,000 pills with a street value of some $440,000.
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The Hernandez brothers agreed on the price and drove from California to Miami-Dade to complete the deal, police said.
"These individuals traveled cross-country and met with our detectives at a predetermined location, not knowing that the detectives were police officers," Miami-Dade Police spokesman Angel Rodriguez said.
When they removed the spare tire from their vehicle and pulled out four vacuumed-sealed bags containing Fentanyl M30 pills, they were taken into custody, police said.
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Two additional vacuum-sealed bags of Fentanyl M30 pills were also found concealed inside the tire, police said.
Photos released by police showed the massive haul of pills and the spare tire they were found in.
According to an arrest report, David Hernandez said he was offered $10,000 to drive to Miami to make a delivery, and said he picked up his brother in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and offered him $5,000 to help him drive.
"Mr. David Hernandez further stated he was in a financial situation which caused him to take the job offer," the report said.
Justin Hernandez claimed he had no knowledge of the drugs when he was picked up by his brother, an arrest report said.
The brothers were arrested and booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
"I am extremely proud of our world class Police Department and their commitment to fighting crime, protect our residents and ensuring the safety of our community," Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement. "This operation is proof of the exemplary work MDPD is doing to stop the Fentanyl epidemic that is affecting so many in our community."
Rodriguez had a message for drug traffickers.
"The Miami-Dade Police Department will use all of our resources available to not only investigate but to arrest you," Rodriguez said. "We will work very very hard to keep our community safe and to rid our streets of these dangerous drugs."
