DEA Busts Cottonwood Heights Fentanyl Operation Salt Lake County Sept. 2015 mug of 26 year old Aaron Shamo [ + - ] Video 
 
 Cottonwood Heights - COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS (ABC4 Utah News) - The pills were counterfeit but the danger and the money was real, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. 
 
 One man is in jail and millions of dollars in narcotics and cash were confiscated after the DEA swooped in on a suspected pill making operation Tuesday in the 7800 block of South Titian Way (3125 East). 
 
 For a while Tuesday evening, the block looked like something out of a science fiction movie as firefighters and DEA agents in full hazmat suits entered and left the house and uniformed members of the National Guard secured the scene. 
 
 Agents needed those full body suits and SCUBA tanks in order to safely gather evidence and decontaminate the areas of the house where 26 year old Aaron Michael Shamo allegedly used a pill press to transform powdered fentanyl into counterfeit oxycodone and Xanax tablets. 
 
 "We're dealing with substances here that are deadly to the touch," DEA Special Agent Brian Besser said. "They can be quickly absorbed into the skin and people die from it oft times, almost immediately...p owdered fentanyl again extremely potent, extremely dangerous, extremely deadly, that powder form is laying all over the place." 
 
 Special Agent Besser said pill counterfeiters typically buy fentanyl from China via the so-called "dark web". 
 
 "A person can take a moderate investment of $3500 to $4000 and buy one kilogram of pure fentanyl online," Besser explained. "One kilogram of pure Fentanyl will generate roughly in between 700,000 to a million counterfeit pills. That equates to roughly in between $6 to $22 million in profit from a $4000 investment." 
 
 Officers removed clear plastic bags containing an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars from the house, which Besser calls the base of a Shamo's nationwide operation. 
 
 "It's safe to say that this individual is responsible for hundreds of thousands, more likely millions of counterfeit tablets going across the continental United States," Besser said. " These counterfeit pills have fentanyl being put into them and there is no control mechanism, there is no regulation method. So one person may get a pill out of a counterfeit batch and take it and use it. The second person may take the pill and die almost immediately... It would be very safe to say that people have died from this operation." 
 
 Besser told ABC4 Utah News that his agency served a second warrant at another location Tuesday and they are questioning "numerous people" related to this case which could result in additional arrests. 

 COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Federal agents discovered an enormous amount of illicit fentanyl pills at a Cottonwood Heights home Tuesday in what they called an "absolutely catastrophic" undercover drug dealing operation. 
 
 It's likely that the total number of pills will number in the millions when they're counted up, said Brian Besser, Drug Enforcement Administration agent in charge in Utah. He said it is safe to assume Tuesday's raid, carried out in a home at 7939 S. Titian St. (3125 East), beginning 8 a.m., is the largest seizure of pills in the state's history. 
 
 Agents arrested Aaron Michael Shamo, 26, who lives at the home. Federal prosecutors filed a complaint against him alleging distribution of fentanyl with intent to distribute, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. 
 
 Agents discovered a "pill press" inside Shamo's home that is likely capable of manufacturing several thousand pills per hour, Besser said, adding that Shamo had carried out a manufacturing and distribution operation inside his home for at least a matter of months, though he wasn't sure if it was longer. 
 
 Fentanyl can be deadly to the touch to non-opioid users, Besser said. Because it was falsely packaged as black market oxycodone, which is far less potent, he said "it would be very safe to say people have died from this operation" due to overdoses. 
 
 The pills were distributed across the United States, at least partly through the mail, according to Besser. Agents were still investigating the breadth of the operation and hoped to arrest anyone found to be "aiding, abetting or assisting Shamo in any way," he said. 
 
 In the raid, DEA agents were assisted by local hazardous materials crews and the Utah National Guard because of the extremely dangerous materials they were seizing, Besser said. Because of that danger, he didn't know when authorities would be done searching the home. 
 
 "Every precaution is being taken for the safety of our officers," he said. 
 
 The Internal Revenue Service was also on scene, though reasons for their presence were not immediately clear. 
 
 Shamo's alleged distribution of fentanyl is "absolutely catastrophic" because it is impossible for most people to identify a fentanyl pill disguised as oxycodone, according to Besser. 
 
 "These synthetic opioids are extremely deadly," he said. 
 
 Huge bags of cash being taken out of Cottonwood Heights home. Site of massive pill making operation. pic.twitter.com/fH3W8pdN3b— Ashley Kewish (@ashleykewish) November 23, 2016 
 
 Distribution of the drug, Besser said, is intended to take advantage of pain killer addicts looking for oxycodone or other, less potent substances on the black market. 
 
 Fentanyl's effects also vary considerably, depending on whether the person exposed to it has developed a high threshold for painkillers. 
 
 "That is the problem with these fentanyl pills," Besser said. "The first person may take one and (nothing noticeable happens). The second person may take it and die almost immediately." 
 
 Federal court documents in Shamo's case specifically identify 95,000 pills. They state he also kept illicit pills at a "stash location" at 11469 S. Open View Lane (4800 West) in South Jordan. 
 
 Shamo "is known to have employed several individuals over the past year to accept shipments of packages from China at their residences," the federal complaint states. 
 
 "These individuals would deliver the packages to Shamo without opening them or inspecting the contents. Within the last few months, law enforcement agents were able to seize several of the packages that were shipped to these individuals," including one that had contents testing positive for 120 grams of fentanyl, the complaint states. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah — One of the largest drug busts in Utah history happened in Cottonwood Heights Tuesday. 
 
 The DEA uncovered hundreds of thousands of counterfeit opioid tablets, along with close to $1 million in cash. 
 
 The illegal pill manufacturing operation was found in the basement of a house, located on the intersection of Danish Ridge Way and Titian Way. 
 
 The DEA said they had been investigating the house and its renter for quite some time. 
 
 "This is absolutely catastrophic, this adds to the opioid epidemic," said DEA agent Brian Besser. "These tablets are primarily consisting of counterfeit oxycodone, 30 milligram oxycodone tablets, and counterfeit Xanax." 
 
 Besser said the magnitude of this drug operation goes beyond Salt Lake City or even Utah. 
 
 "Over the course of time, millions of counterfeit tablets, which are being distributed across the continental United States," said Besser. 
 
 Besser said the fake opioids were being made with fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin. Anyone who entered the home had to wear a hazmat suit for protection. 
 
 "We are dealing with substances here that are deadly to the touch," said Besser. 
 
 The DEA said there is no telling how many people looking for real opioids out on the street may have been saved, because these deadly synthetic drugs didn't make it into their hands. 
 
 "There is no regulation method so one person may get a counterfeit pill out of one batch, take it and use it, the second person may take the pill and die," said Besser. 
 
 The man renting the home, 26-year-old Aaron Shamo, has been arrested and charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute. The DEA is still investigating whether there may be anyone else involved. 
 
 Neighbors are in shock. 
 
 "There's a lot of children, a lot of little children, so we don't want anything like this," said neighbor Patricia Kirk. "For this street, in particular, its very scary, very alarming, very surprising." 
 
 Shamo is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted. 
 

– Officials are calling it the largest seizure of pills and one of the largest drug busts in Utah history. DEA agents raided a home in Cottonwood Heights on Tuesday and found an "absolutely catastrophic" drug operation. In addition to almost $1 million in cash and what DEA Agent Brian Besser believes will ultimately tally more than a million fentanyl pills, agents also found a "pill press" likely used to turn powdered fentanyl into counterfeit oxycodone tablets. Besser says the press' output could be thousands of pills an hour. "It would be very safe to say people have died from this operation," Besser tells KSL, noting fentanyl is far more potent than the oxycodone buyers would be expecting. For non-opioid users, simply touching fentanyl can kill, which is why ABC4 reports the scene "looked like something out of a science fiction movie," with agents clad in hazmat suits and using SCUBA tanks. Aaron Michael Shamo, 26, who was renting the home, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute, reports Fox 13. He could face 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted. According to federal court documents, Shamo "employed several individuals over the past year to accept shipments of packages from China" and then deliver them, unopened, to him. Agents who intercepted some packages say at least one contained fentanyl. Besser breaks down the math for ABC4, explaining that a kilogram of pure fentanyl can be bought from China for $4,000 and turned into as many as 1 million pills worth as much as $22 million.