SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 3, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — An investigation into fentanyl distribution in Weber County led to the arrest of a 39-year-old Utah man at Salt Lake City International Airport.
David Christopher Ellis was arrested at the airport Thursday by officers with the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force after distributable amounts of fentanyl and heroin were found in his luggage.
The task force had been investigating Ellis “over the past several months for distribution of fentanyl in the Weber County area,” according to a probable cause statement filed in Ogden’s 2nd District Court.
During its investigation, the task force learned Ellis was scheduled to fly from Phoenix to Salt Lake City and verified Thursday he was on the flight, court documents state. Officers were waiting for him when the plane landed, police said.
Police say Ellis had a white, crystal-like substance in his right front pocket at the time of his arrest. The substance later tested positive for methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Ellis also had a tan backpack and a black suitcase, which were found to contain “several clear plastic baggies containing different quantities of small round blue pills, which I believed to be fentanyl based on my experience,” the statement continues.
In all, the luggage contained 419.4 grams of fentanyl or approximately 4,100 pills, police said.
Officers also found a plastic baggie containing 37.8 grams of a black tar-like substance that later tested positive as heroin, court documents state. Police estimate Ellis possessed 378 doses of heroin.
Police say Ellis stays in Utah “for a short period of time before leaving to Arizona,” according to the probable cause statement. Officers also learned Ellis “makes frequent trips to Mexico,” and had just returned to Phoenix from Mexico before flying to Salt Lake City, police said.
Ellis also had outstanding statewide warrants for felony fraud charges in Ogden and felony domestic violence charges in Riverdale, court documents state.
He is being held without bail in the Weber County Jail for investigation of:
- Two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a second-degree felony.
- Possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor.
