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Police file charges after discovering 68 pills of suspected fentanyl inside Craig apartment

Assisted by the Rout County Combined Emergency Response Team and local law enforcement, Moffat County’s All Crime Enforcement Team arrested three people this week after allegedly discovering dozens of suspected fentanyl pills while raiding an apartment in Craig.

According to an arrest affidavit, officers applied for a search warrant for a unit at the Frontier Apartments at 555 First Ave. on Jan. 18 and executed it Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The arrest affidavit says officers arrived just after 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, approached the apartment’s front door, announced their presence loudly and demanded that anyone inside the apartment come out. After hearing no response for what officers described as “a reasonable amount of time,” officers checked the door and found it was unlocked. Then they opened the door, entered the apartment and saw two men and a woman lying on the living room floor.



The affidavit adds that officers also noticed about seven to 10 small blue pills, a plastic tube, a blue butane torch and a small piece of foil with black residue on it, upon entering the apartment’s living room. As authorities continued to make their way about the living room, they allegedly found about 10-15 more blue pills strewn about on the floor.

“I know through my law enforcement training and experience that blue ‘M30’ imprinted pills are often counterfeit Oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl and are commonly heated on aluminum foil using a butane torch, and a tube, also known as a ‘tooter,’ is used to inhale the resulting smoke/fumes,” one of the officers wrote in the police report.



All three people inside the apartment — Javier Amaya-Hernandez, 47, Katrina Ramos, 34, and Jose Ricardo Rodriguez Cisneros, 32 — were taken into police custody at that point.

From left, Javier Amaya-Hernandez, 47, Jose Ricardo Rodriguez Cisneros, 32, and Katrina Ramos, 34, were arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, on a handful of drug-related charges including distribution of a controlled substance.
Moffat County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photos

The affidavit says that as authorities continued to search the apartment, officers found more blue pills hidden inside a flashlight body, which also contained a small baggie of suspected methamphetamine.

Police also allegedly found more pieces of foil with black residue, numerous small baggies, meth pipes and additional tooters in the living room, as well as a Glock handgun and loaded magazine. Altogether, authorities reported finding 68 suspected fentanyl pills and just under a gram of suspected meth.

Meanwhile, the affidavit says that three white pills identified as the prescription pain medication Tramadol were found inside a small ziplock baggie in the kitchen. In a back bedroom, police allegedly found more drug paraphernalia and a small notebook with dollar amounts and drug references written in it.

According to the arrest affidavit, Amaya-Hernandez had more than $1,000 and Rodriguez Cisernos had more than $2,100 in their possessions. In the affidavit, police surmised that based on the quantity of pills, they were being distributed and not for personal use.

According to the Moffat County Jail’s booking logs, all three defendants were charged with felony unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, in addition to other offenses.

Ramos and Amaya-Hernandez are scheduled to appear in court on Feb 1. Rodriguez Cisernos is set to appear in court next Feb. 2.

The Craig Press reached out to the Craig Police Department on Wednesday for information about this case, but officials with the police department declined to answer any questions about it.


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