Long Island man indicted for trafficking enough fentanyl to kill 2.5M people

A Long Island antheral has been indicted for allegedly possessing 5 kilograms of fentanyl — capable to termination much than 2.5 cardinal people, authorities said.

Adriano Abreu Bonifacio, 39, was arrested successful December aft Suffolk County Police became suspicious of a bundle addressed to his Deer Park home.

The package, a achromatic container sent from California, was addressed to a antheral named Miguel Perez, authorities said.

After California officials flagged the package, they sent it to the Suffolk County Police Department for further investigation.

With the assistance of a narcotics-trained dog, constabulary recovered that the bundle contained 5 kilograms of fentanyl.

The pursuing day, an undercover serviceman with the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force disguised arsenic a transportation operator knocked connected Bonifacio’s doorway to present the package.

Bonifacio told the serviceman that helium was Perez’s person and was authorized to person the bundle connected his behalf. He was arrested aft accepting it.

Investigators aboriginal confirmed that a idiosyncratic named Miguel Perez did not unrecorded astatine that address.

A Suffolk County expansive assemblage indicted Bonifacio connected 1 number each of operating arsenic a large trafficker, first-degree transgression possession of a controlled substance and third-degree transgression possession of a controlled substance.

Bonifacio pleaded not guilty successful Suffolk District Court connected Wednesday. He faces 15 years to beingness if convicted.

“This indictment represents our office’s unwavering committedness to combating the fentanyl overdose crisis,” District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said, according to Patch Deer Park-North Babylon.

Bonifacio’s attorney, Javier Solano, told Newsday his lawsuit doesn’t talk English good and whitethorn person misunderstood what the serviceman asked him.

“I person assurance that the prosecutors successful this lawsuit made an unfortunate error,” Solano told the newspaper.

Bonifacio is being held connected $500,000 currency bail. He’s expected backmost successful tribunal connected March 13.

Solano did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Thursday.