The two alleged drug traffickers involved in a major fentanyl bust did not show up to their court date after they were granted cashless bail following their initial arrests.
Fox News reported Jose Zendejas, 25, and Benito Madrigal, 19, did not show up for their scheduled court date at the Tulare County Courthouse on Thursday. The pair is accused of attempting to smuggle in over 150,000 fentanyl pills. The street value of their haul is estimated to be $750,000.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux predicted the two men would not show up to their court date after they were released, saying California's soft-on-crime policies are making things worse amid the historic increase of the extremely deadly fentanyl being smuggled in from Mexico.
"I didn't learn about the order until it was far too late," Boudreaux previously told Fox News. "I couldn't believe we had 150,00 fentanyl pills — one of the most dangerous epidemics facing our nation today — with people in custody that we may potentially be able to impact the future of this type of drug trafficking organization… and we let them go."
We've learned that Tulare Co. Court Commissioner Mikki Verissimo signed the order to release the men. Sheriff Mike Boudreaux says on @FoxNews that "California's system of justice is failing us all", and that when he found out about the release of the men, he was "infuriated". pic.twitter.com/Aby74ZvjvA
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 28, 2022
The Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles recently announced it sized more than one million fentanyl pills. The pills and traffickers are potentially linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's largest and oldest cartels.
NEW: DEA Los Angeles announces a seizure of 1 million fake pills containing fentanyl in Inglewood, the largest fentanyl bust the DEA has ever made in CA. The pills are believed to be linked to traffickers associated w/ the Sinaloa cartel & were intended for distribution. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/YpBFtq3JGO
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) July 14, 2022