Charges: Man picked up fentanyl shipped through Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

A 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday by Minneapolis police after allegedly being caught trying to move almost five pounds of fentanyl across state lines.

Eduardo Rivera is facing two felony drug charges, including importing a controlled substance across state borders and 1st-degree sale of drugs after Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police found suspicious package on Halloween at the U.P.S. shipping facility.

The parcel originated from San Bernardino, California, and was addressed to A.H.M. at an apartment building on Garfield Avenue in Minneapolis, but no unit number was listed. After developing a suspicion that the package contained drugs, they used a drug dog to detect the odor of controlled substances.

After a warrant was obtained to open the package, they found around 4.9 pounds of fentanyl. On Nov. 1, the charges state that officers prepared a controlled delivery of the parcel, already prepared with a warrant to search the apartment of whomever picked it up.

The package was placed on the front steps near the entrance to the apartment building, and at around 11:40 a.m., Rivera allegedly walked up to the building from a black sedan, picked up the parcel, and started walking back to his car, where police detained him without incident.

Officers searched Rivera's car, finding just under a gram of cocaine inside. He initially told officers he was stealing the package and denied knowing what was inside. However, he eventually admitted he had lied to detectives about stealing the package and that he was getting paid money to move the package by a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

Charges state that he had made prior deliveries for this drug group, including cash. When detectives recovered two phones from Rivera, he said one was used to communicate with the Mexican group, and it would include a list of accounts and debts owed.

Rivera is currently in custody at the Hennepin County jail, with a bail set at $200,000. His next court date is on Nov. 25 at 8:30 a.m.