Colorado man at center of massive fentanyl bust sentenced to 60+ years in prison

On October 2, 2024By Rgal Nv

GREELEY, Colo. (KKTV) – A Weld County man may have to wait until he’s 100 to see the world without bars after being sentenced to 64 years in prison.

The 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office says 36-year-old Jorge Garcia-Loya was found with a whopping $330,000 worth of drugs back in 2022 — and one of the largest fentanyl hauls ever seized in the county at the time.

“On September 13, 2022, Garcia-Loya was pulled over by a Weld County Sheriff’s Deputy on Highway 85 in Gilcrest for speeding. A K-9 unit detected narcotics, prompting a search of his truck. Authorities found approximately 4,000 M-30 pills, believed to contain fentanyl, and more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine,” the DA’s office said.

Another 26 pounds of meth and 60,000 fentanyl pills were found later that day in Garcia-Loya’s home.

Investigators later learned Garcia-Loya was part of a larger drug trafficking network linked to Mexico. The drugs would be stuffed inside gas tanks and driven from New Mexico to Colorado.

“Had law enforcement not stopped this defendant, I don’t want to imagine the devastation he could have caused by flooding our community with this poison,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia in a statement Tuesday. “Unfortunately, this drug epidemic isn’t slowing down, but we want the community to know that we take these cases very seriously. If you profit from this poison, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and will be held accountable.”