Two men accused of attempting to sell approximately 40,000 fentanyl pills to a federal informant are set to appear in U.S. District Court in Phoenix this week.
Trelayne Equaun Hodge and Gustavo Torres Manjarrez were arrested on July 9 during a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-monitored operation near the Phoenix airport.
According to court documents reviewed by Border Report, a DEA informant contacted Hodge to arrange the purchase. Hodge allegedly said he would procure the pills from a third party, later identified as Torres.
The three met in the parking lot of a hotel on East University Avenue, where they entered Hodge's SUV and inspected a sample of the drugs. The informant, equipped with a recording device, then confirmed to federal agents that he had seen the fentanyl pills. Law enforcement immediately detained both suspects and searched their vehicles, finding 66.5 grams of fentanyl pills on Torres and an additional 4.16 kilograms inside the floorboard of a gray Kia sedan.
Both men admitted they were at the location to carry out a fentanyl transaction. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for this week.
The arrests occurred amid a broader federal crackdown on synthetic opioids. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice released data on DEA operations conducted the first half of 2025, revealing that DEA agents have seized roughly 44 million fentanyl pills and over 4,500 pounds of fentanyl powder so far this year.
"Our DEA agents are doing historic work to keep our communities safe from deadly drugs like fentanyl and dismantle the cartels selling them," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in the statement. "I want to remind all Americans to exercise extreme caution: a pill can kill."
DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy added:
"DEA is hitting the cartels where it hurts—with arrests, with seizures, and with relentless pressure. From meth labs in California to fentanyl pills disguised as pharmaceuticals seized at our border, these operations are saving American lives every single day. We are not slowing down. We are dismantling these networks piece by piece—and we won't stop until the last brick of their empire falls"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that while fentanyl-related overdose deaths declined after December 2023, the synthetic opioid was involved in many of the 80,112 overdose deaths recorded in 2024.
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