Deerfield Beach Man Pleads Guilty To Purchasing Large Shipment Of Synthetic Opioids From China

Two entire generations have grown up hearing that you should stay away from drug mixtures purchased on the street, because what looks like Studio 54 grade cocaine could be a mixture of rat poison and broken glass.  It also seems like a lifetime ago that the talking heads on TV were saying that fentanyl was the new scariest drug, since it is 100 times as strong as morphine, the drug that the ashen-faced factory workers used to buy over the counter to ease their physical and emotional pain, and twice as strong as heroin, the preferred drug for steeling oneself against the mean streets of America’s cities in the 1960s.  Times change quickly, though, and now chemists have synthesized synthetic opioids that are even stronger than fentanyl.  Whereas fentanyl is in widespread medical use for anesthesia and pain relief, albeit in minute doses, these new synthetic opioids, such as protonitazene and etonitazene, are not legal for medical use anywhere.  Despite this, there is a flourishing international trade in these drugs on the Internet, and a South Florida man has recently pleaded guilty to importing large quantities of them.  If you are facing criminal charges related to the new generation of synthetic opioids, contact a West Palm Beach drug offenses lawyer.

When Can Police Search Your Mail?

In early 2024, Will Catis. Sr. of Deerfield Beach pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a synthetic opioid with intent to distribute.  Police first identified Catis as a suspect when they saw that his address was one to which a Chinese company known to export illegal drugs was addressing packages.  Police seized a package sent from the company and addressed to Catis, but they could not open it until six days later, when a judge issued a search warrant.  It is illegal to open mail addressed to someone else, even if you are a law enforcement officer acting within the capacity of your job duties; police must obtain a search warrant from the court before they open someone else’s mail.

The drugs the police found in the package led them to request and receive another search warrant, this time for Catis’s apartment and storage unit.  There, they found several drug mixtures, some in quantities over a kilogram.  Each powder was a combination of deadly synthetic opioids and milder substances such as lidocaine, quinine, and caffeine.  Catis pleaded guilty in January 2024, and could have faced a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.  His sentencing hearing was in April, but news sources did not indicate what sentence he received.  Defendants who plead guilty to their charges usually receive lighter sentences than defendants who get a guilty verdict at trial.

Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County.  Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/south-florida-man-pleads-guilty-participating-conspiracy-distribute-protonitazene