{"id":43136,"date":"2021-12-17T20:19:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-18T03:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tightened-border-slowed-fentanyl-but-its-rising-again-montezuma-sheriffs-office-says\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:11:36","slug":"tightened-border-slowed-fentanyl-but-its-rising-again-montezuma-sheriffs-office-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tightened-border-slowed-fentanyl-but-its-rising-again-montezuma-sheriffs-office-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Tightened border slowed fentanyl, but it\u2019s rising again, Montezuma Sheriff\u2019s Office says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team found 728 fentanyl pills at Chad Blackmore's residence at 510 E. Arbecam Ave.<\/span>Courtesy Detective Victor Galarza<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cortez has increasingly become a trafficking hub for fentanyl, considered the most threatening drug in Montezuma County, since the border with Mexico opened up, the Sheriff\u2019s Office says.<\/p>\n

The distribution of fentanyl was slowed when the U.S. land border was \u201cclosed\u201d to all but essential travel because of COVID-19, said Detective Victor Galarza, but its reopening increased the supply of fentanyl in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOVID assisted us drastically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As a result, local prices are falling for the in-demand blue pills, and consumption is rising, Galarza said.<\/p>\n

Originally from Mexico City, Galarza worked as a Mexican diplomat in the U.S. before becoming a naturalized citizen and then joining the Montezuma County\u2019s Sheriff\u2019s Office in 2012. He teaches classes across the country about cartels and drug trafficking operations.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office emphasized Cortez\u2019s position as a hub for drug trafficking Thursday evening during its presentation \u201cCriminal Groups and the Drugs They Bring Into Our Communities\u201d at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center.<\/p>\n

Galarza and Sheriff Steve Nowlin facilitated the program, which about 50 people attended.<\/p>\n

While many drugs traveling from Mexican cartels through Cortez are pipelined to Denver, some remain in the area, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, there\u2019s someone crossing into Montezuma County with a load of dope,\u201d Galarza said.<\/p>\n

He said his team is investigating seven drug trafficking operations in the county.<\/p>\n

Mexican cartels pose the No.1 criminal threat to the United States, he said.<\/p>\n

In Mexico, 300 to 800 drug trafficking operations, transnational criminal organizations, criminal groups and gangs are operating at any given time, Galarza said.<\/p>\n

He drew links between regional drug busts and the C\u00e1rtel de Jalisco Nueva Generaci\u00f3n and the Sinaloa cartels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do it with impunity,\u201d Galarza said. \u201cThey\u2019re not afraid because they know they control their areas of operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed two executive orders<\/a> aimed at reinvigorating combative efforts against transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

Galarza also referenced the recent death of an Animas High School student who was suspected to have overdosed<\/a> while smoking the opioid painkiller Percocet, which might have been laced with fentanyl. Two other students were hospitalized.<\/p>\n

Galarza said the opioid crisis has reached a critical level, even witnessing Narcan \u2013 a device that delivers naloxone to remedy an overdose \u2014 hanging on the walls of homes he\u2019s visited.<\/p>\n

While the presence of fentanyl is spiking in Montezuma County, Galarza said regional drug trafficking operations pose a threat as well. He cited involvement in recent Alamosa and Morgan drug investigations that involved 10 total murders.<\/p>\n

In a Q&A session after the presentation, residents expressed concern about local trafficking.<\/p>\n

Nowlin confirmed crime was increasing with the rising prevalence of fentanyl, heroin and meth in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not as much black tar heroine in Montezuma County as there was a year ago, Galarza said. Users now favor fentanyl.<\/p>\n

The increased presence of fentanyl pills came to light last month, when the narcotics team requested that the Phoenix Police Department arrest Cortez resident Chad P. Blackmore. Found in Arizona with 1,000 pills and suspected to be en route to Montezuma County, Blackmore was extradited to Cortez, where the narcotics team had found 748 pills at his house days before, Galarza said Friday. Blackmore was issued 21 arrest warrants.<\/p>\n

The Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team, led by Galarza, believes Blackmore led a trafficking operation from Cortez and transported thousands of fentanyl pills into the county since January.<\/p>\n

Blackmore awaits prosecution, Galarza said.<\/p>\n

The counterfeit oxycodone 30 fentanyl pills known as Blues and Blue Smurfs, while typically light blue in color, have been found in seven different colors in the county, Galarza said.<\/p>\n

Distributors may purchase the pills for as little as $1 a piece, then resell them for $20 to $30. Two out of every five of those pills has enough fentanyl to be fatal, Galarza said.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the Montezuma Cortez Narcotics Investigation team was involved in regional and local confiscations of:<\/p>\n

291 pounds of marijuana.106,587.5 fentanyl pills. 3,175.2 grams of fentanyl in powder form. 5,953.66 grams of meth. 62.92 grams of blue meth. 5.13 grams of psilocybin mushrooms. 21.04 grams of brown heroin. 969.2 grams of black heroin. 96 pounds of prescription medications. 4 Xanax pills. 1 gram of cocaine. 22 guns. 5,351 rounds of ammunition. 75 pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel oil. 57 feet of detonating cord. 151 blasting caps. 18 sticks of TNT. 11 vehicles. $65,460.57 in cash. <\/div>\n

The confiscations were valued at $2.08 million.<\/p>\n

A September press release <\/a>from the Drug Enforcement Administration alerting the country of the lethality and rising availability of the counterfeit pills revealed that 9.5 million counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and meth were seized in the U.S. in 2021.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the DEA confiscated 2.6 million counterfeit pills.<\/p>\n

In Montezuma County, several dealers were \u201cshut down,\u201dbut it\u2019s not long before they start up again, he said.<\/p>\n

Galarza and Nowlin said they can\u2019t tackle drug problems in Cortez without help. Residents, they said, sometimes have a closer grasp on localized drug problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese individuals are everywhere, and they hide in plain sight,\u201d Galarza said.<\/p>\n

In August, a similar presentation was held at Montezuma-Cortez High School.<\/p>\n

Answering another attendee, Nowlin said he believes marijuana is a gateway drug. He said he hasn\u2019t seen any of the tax fund dollars promised to law enforcement with the drug\u2019s legalization in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experiment in Colorado has grown to where it is so dangerous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people who will survive the addiction if they receive help,\u201d Nowlin said, and they can inform officers about drug suppliers, he said.<\/p>\n

He said he also suspects that human trafficking exists in the county.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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