The Drug Enforcement Administration Phoenix East Valley Drug Enforcement Task Force seized approximately 700,000 fentanyl pills in a bust Monday.
The two men arrested are facing multiple federal charges.
The fentanyl was seized after task force investigators say they observed an exchange between 32-year-old Carlos Rene Montes and 30-year-old Miguel Angel Sesma in a Phoenix parking lot.
Authorities say Montes transferred packages of roofing shingles to the bed of Sesma's Ford F-250 after they spoke with their vehicles parked next to each other. The task force investigators conducted traffic stops on both Montes' and Sesma's vehicles after they left the parking lot.
The investigators found 114 pounds of pills that were concealed in the roofing shingles of Sesma’s truck after a Mesa Police Department canine detective conducted an open-air sniff on the vehicle.
Montes later told investigators he was in possession of more drugs in his Tucson home, which consisted of 32 pounds of pills laced with fentanyl, officials say.
The two suspects face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted and a fine of up to $10 million.
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