Two men were convicted after trying to sell 28 pounds of methamphetamine and 9,000 fentanyl pills in a shark pillow at Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
DEA agents say that on September 15, 2021, a man later identified as 24-year-old Steve Lugo Leon arranged for the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine pills at the Arizona Mills Mall. After Leon left the mall, Gila River Police Department officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop in the mall parking lot, according to a DEA press release.
Leon, the driver of a Ford F-150, was in the parking lot when police conducted a traffic stop. Leon’s truck then struck another vehicle, causing the other vehicle to flip onto its side, according to the DEA.
The front seat passenger of León’s vehicle, later identified as 20-year-old Rafael Ivan Valenzuela Chairez, attempted to flee before being apprehended by officers.. Authorities said Leon continued driving, before crashing the F-150 into a light pole, according to a DEA news release.
DEA agents were able to find 28 pounds of methamphetamine and 9,000 fentanyl pills that were hidden in a shark-designed children’s pillow in the bed of Leon’s truck, according to the DEA.
Both León and Chairez pleaded guilty to drug charges. Leon was sentenced to 70 months, followed by five years of supervised release, and Chairez was sentenced to 18 months, followed by three years of supervised release by a U.S. District Court judge in Phoenix, according to a statement press release of the DEA.
