Carlton County assists in massive fentanyl bust

The Carlton County Sheriff’s Department assisted with an undercover investigation that led to the largest statewide single seizure of fentanyl in 2019 last week.

Raymond Valentino Bowser, 35, of Chicago, Illinois and Denzel Lavon Hale, 29, of Duluth were arrested Nov. 21 in Duluth and charged with first-degree sale of narcotics in St. Louis County Sixth District Court Friday, Nov. 22. Bowser was also charged with fleeing on foot. Both men remain in the St. Louis County Jail under bails of $100,000 each.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension directed the joint narcotics investigation during which BCA agents seized 80 grams of suspected pure fentanyl powder.

“Fentanyl is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and only a few milligrams can kill a person,” said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “The drugs seized during this operation would have been enough to kill more than 26,000 people.”