Arizona Couple Indicted for Selling Counterfeit Pills Made with Fentanyl, Pills Implicated in Death of Arkansas Man

Fentanyl pills seized in Buckeye, Arizona
Source: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Jacob Medina and his pregnant girlfriend, Diane Erika Marin, have been arrested in connection with a counterfeit pill distribution ring that is allegedly responsible for killing an Arkansas man, the KATV reports.

According to KATV, the police stated that Medina and Marin are alleged to have sold counterfeit oxycodone made with fentanyl analogues to people all over the United States.  The couple was arrested at their home in Glendale, Arizona on March 4th.

ABC15 described how Medina and Marin allegedly bought counterfeit pills made with fentanyl on the Internet, and then mailed them to customers throughout the country. At least one package seized contained blue pills designed to look like oxycodone, but instead contained a fentanyl analogue.

According to Medina and Marin’s criminal complaint, some of the counterfeit oxycodone they were selling made it to a man in Conway, Arkansas who died on February 21, 2019.  Subsequently, the victim’s brother turned 19 blue, round pills stamped “M30”, that appeared to be oxycodone. Using the shipment information on the package of pills, postal inspectors were able to trace the package back to Medina and Marin’s Glendale address. Authorities ultimately seized nearly a pound and a half of fake oxycodone pills in searches of Medina and Marin’s home and place of business.

Doug Coleman, the Phoenix Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) told ABC15, “Just throwing these chemicals into a mix and stir it up with a spoon. The pill that you take one time has 1 mg on fentanyl in it, and you're fine. The next pill that you take that came from that same batch has 6 mg of fentanyl in it, and you're dead."