According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a Maricopa man was picked up near St. Louis Jan. 10 with one of the biggest fentanyl  hauls in the district.

Daniel Cervantes Felix, 18, was charged in a criminal complaint for his involvement in the possession with the intent to distribute 10 kilograms of fentanyl. The charge is the result of a joint investigation between the St. Louis County Police Department’s Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to the complaint, on Jan. 10 St. Louis County police officers pulled over a GMC Sierra vehicle being driven by Felix after he allegedly violated various traffic laws near Eureka.  Felix granted consent to search his vehicle. The report says officers discovered multiple kilo size bricks totaling 10 kilograms of fentanyl.

“The allegations in this case involve the second-largest seizure of fentanyl in this district,” U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said in a statement. “This amounts to millions of doses of fentanyl – enough to destroy or end the lives of hundreds of thousands of Missourians. This conduct simply will not be tolerated by law enforcement.  We are grateful to the St. Louis County police and DEA agents involved in this on-going investigation.  Their seizure of this poison has saved many, many lives.”

Felix has been charged with one count of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance.  He faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.  He is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.