An accused drug dealer is behind bars after police found him in possession of 2.5 kilograms of heroin and the synthetic opioid known as Fentanyl, according to the state attorney’s office and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The arrest of Luis Manuel Charchabal, 53, is the result of a long-term narcotics investigation from both departments. Charchabal is a convicted felon and was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. He is being charged with three counts of illegal trafficking in heroin and three counts of possession of Fentanyl with intent to deliver.
Fentanyl is estimated to be 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The synthetic opioid was originally created as an intravenous anesthetic for hospital use in the 1960s. The drug is cheap to produce and is often mixed with heroin (or sold as heroin) when sold on the streets.
“Selling Fentanyl is selling death by a different name,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “The opioid epidemic that America, Florida and Dade County are all experiencing is made possible by those individuals who see illegal profits as more important than human life.”
In May, Gov. Rick Scott declared opioid abuse a public health emergency in the state of Florida. In 2015, 2,538 Floridians died as a direct result of opioid use.
“This case serves as just one example of the ongoing efforts of Narcotics Bureau detectives who will continue to work diligently, together with our law enforcement partners, to prevent additional overdose tragedies related to this poison,” said Miami-Dade Police Department Director Juan J. Perez. “Working with our community, we will overcome the Opioid epidemic that has plagued the entire country."
Charchabal is being held on bond and will have to prove the money is legal -- not from his alleged drug deals.
