Arizona mother and son accused of smuggling 120,000 fentanyl pills into McHenry County, arrested in sting

A mother and son from Arizona are accused of being “carriers” for a Mexican drug cartel and smuggling 120,000 fentanyl pills stamped as oxycodone to McHenry County.

Gloria Gastelum, 54, and her son German Vargas Jr., 33, of Tucson, each are charged with manufacturing and delivering 900 grams or more of fentanyl, which are Class X felonies; they’re also accused of possession of 200 grams or more of fentanyl, according to the criminal complaints filed in McHenry County court.

The pair, arrested Wednesday in Marengo by McHenry County Sheriff’s deputies, appeared separately before Judge Carl Metz Thursday for initial hearings and were ordered detained in the county jail pretrial. Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Gregorowicz provided similar details for each.

Gregorowicz argued they be detained pretrial because they pose a real threat to residents of McHenry County and the entire country. The prosecutor also said they are a flight risk because they have no friends or family in the county and live near the U.S.-Mexico border. Should they be allowed to be released while they await trial and are placed on home confinement, there are no conditions that would keep them from fleeing into Mexico, he said.

The prosecutor said the pair “drive all over” the U.S. as carriers for a Mexican drug cartel in Sonora, Mexico. They drove to McHenry County in a rented vehicle – common among drug smugglers aiming to elude police – after an arrangement was made between Gastelum and an undercover detective, according to authorities.

When the pair was arrested, they were in the possession of 120,000 blue pills stamped as oxycodone that tested positive for fentanyl, the pills were packaged in 12 bundles of 10,000 pills each, officials allege. The total weight of the fentanyl was 12 kilograms or 12,000 grams, which, if sold for $15 per pill, would equal a total street value of $1.8 million, Gregorowicz said, adding that, if sold for $30 each, the street value would be $3.6 million.

Gregorowicz noted the high number of fentanyl overdoses in the county and elsewhere and said the pair pose a “real and present danger.”

The couple “had enough to kill 120,000 people,” he said.

Gregorowicz said detectives found messages between Gastelum and the alleged drug supplier in Mexico. The messages found in What’s App discussed details of drug smuggling, cash deliveries, maps, her compensation and referred to the fake pills as “blues,” the prosecutor said, alleging that Gastelum has been a drug smuggler for two years and that she admitted to it.

In arguing that both mother and son could be released with conditions, Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said Vargas owns a restaurant in Arizona where his mother works, they both are lifelong residents of Arizona and received mid-level scores on a dangerousness evaluation. He also said the facts do not show that they drive “all over the country” carrying drugs. Vargas also has “little” criminal history and always has appeared for his court dates, Giesinger said.

In ordering that Vargas and Gastelum be detained, Metz agreed with the prosecutor that they are dangerous and flight risks because they are part of a “drug organization in Sonora, Mexico, with means to avoid prosecution. [They] live in Arizona and can cross the border to avoid prosecution.”

Both are due in a felony courtroom Tuesday. If convicted on the Class X felonies, both could face up to 30 years in prison or, because of the volume of drugs, 60 years in prison, Metz said.

A recent Northwest Herald story explored the scourge of fake pills in the suburbs. Laura Fry, executive director of Live4Lali, said counterfeit or fake pills – referring to nonprescription pills bought on the street by people believing they are Xanax, benzodiazepines, Norco, Oxycontin, Percocet, Ativan, trazodone and other narcotics, but are laced with fentanyl – have been on the rise.

Live4Lali is an Arlington Heights-based advocacy group that works to reduce stigma and prevent substance use disorder, including by providing test strips, naloxone and clean needles.

Counterfeit pills can be deadly and have been showing up more and more in recent years, Fry said.

The surge in fentanyl on the streets is due to a lack of heroin, Fry said. While heroin requires growing and maintaining fields of poppies, fentanyl requires only chemicals that are easily accessible on the dark web. Fentanyl is mixed with other drugs because the other drugs enhance and prolong the effect – and the synthetic opioid has driven a huge surge in overdoses in recent years, she said.

Fry said: “Any pill you buy off the street has the potential to have fentanyl in it.”