SANDY, Utah, Oct. 21, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Police arrested a suspected drug dealer after monitoring him online allegedly writing about and posting photos and videos of his wares.
Police after long investigation had been able to link the suspect to a Telegram account where he posted about having marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms for sale, including photos and videos, according to charging documents for Gregorio Tabarez Hernandez.
Referred to as Tabarez in the court files, he turned 18 Tuesday.
On Thursday he posted he had product arriving that day, according to a probable cause affidavit. Officers then followed him from his Taylorsville residence as he made apparent deliveries to locations in West Jordan and Sandy before arresting him in a Sandy parking lot.
His girlfriend and 10-month-old baby were in the car with him. “The child had the odor of fresh marijuana emitting from her clothing” and baby food was found in the same box as the narcotics.
Which amounted to 507 grams of mushrooms, 1218 grams of marijuana, 379 THC e-cigarettes and $1694 in cash, according to the court file.
In serving a subsequent search warrant on his residence shared with the girlfriend and the baby girl, marijuana was found in a baggie on the floor “accessible to the baby and would have been easy for her to get to and ingest.”
From a safe in a closet in the same room officers allegedly found $21,790 in cash, 5.8 grams of cocaine, and two firearms.
One was a Glock semi-automatic pistol with a switch that made it fully automatic and capable of firing 30 rounds in five seconds, according to the affidavit.
After Miranda, the affidavit said, Tabarez admitted to selling illegal narcotics, owning the two guns and that the $21,790 was the proceeds of his drug sales. Tabarez has a juvenile record that includes felony convictions for weapons possession and aggravated assault, which ban him from owning firearms.
He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail early Friday morning on suspicion of four counts of distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and one count of child endangerment, all felonies.
