Over 5K fentanyl pills recovered from Lehigh Acres, originated from Sinaloa and Jalisco: Officials

Reporter: Rodaris Richardson Writer: Rachel Murphy
Published: Updated:
Items confiscated during the drug bust (CREDIT: Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

A traffic stop in Lehigh Acres led to a major drug bust stemming from two drug cartels in Mexico.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced the formation of a drugs homicide investigation team (or D*HIT) on Tuesday to determine if overdosed deaths are drug-induced homicides.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announcing the formation of D*HIT (CREDIT: Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The team’s creation comes after a traffic stop that led to the arrest of 23-year-old Noah Burnthon.

“During the search of the vehicle, they located over 100 grams of fentanyl pills, 7.6 grams of cocaine, several other various prescription pills and two firearms,” said Marceno.

Knowing they were dealing with drug trafficking, detectives used a warrant to search a Lehigh Acres home.

According to Marceno, they found “over 5,000 fentanyl pills, over 2,000 pills that resemble Xanax, 1,000 other pills, including amphetamine and oxycodone, 370 grams of cocaine, 72 grams of methamphetamine, 63 grams of powdered fentanyl and over seven pounds of marijuana.”

Detectives also found two rifles and six handguns, including a Glock pistol that had been illegally converted to fire fully automatic.

The search led to three additional arrests:

  • 44-year-old Michael Rivera
  • 24-year-old Jacob Rickerman
  • 25-year-old Dominic Bernthon

The men arrested face charges such as trafficking, possession of drugs and armed narcotics trafficking. According to the DEA, the drugs came from two cartels in Sinaloa and Jalisco, Mexico.

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