INDIANAPOLIS -- A Far Eastside man is facing federal charges of dealing in fentanyl following a raid on his apartment last week.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, members of the DEA’s Indianapolis District Office High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began an investigation earlier this year into possible heroin dealing at the Cheswick Village Apartments, located just east of 30th Street and Post Road.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the investigation was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative to reduce violent crime and target those who carry guns but cannot do so legally.
As a result of that investigation, officers executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 9200 block of Dunwoody Lane on Wednesday.
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Inside the apartment, officers reportedly found 171.5 grams of suspected fentanyl in a plastic container under a bed, along with an additional 9.7 grams of suspected fentanyl in a kitchen cabinet and approximately 30 grams of suspected methamphetamine. They also founded lactose and dormin, commonly used as cutting agents for heroin, and two firearms.
Fentanyl is up to 100 times more potent than morphine, and has been linked to an upsurge in opioid overdoses across the country. The median lethal dose of fentanyl for an average adult male is approximately 3 mg.
While officers were conducting the search, the apartment’s resident – and the target of the search warrant – Tyree Kyles, 38, was spotted in a vehicle in the 9000 block of 30th Street and taken into custody.
According to the complaint, Kyles admitted that he had “possession and distributed heroin and fentanyl on a regular basis for numerous years” and also that he was a convicted felon who cannot legally possess a firearm.
Marion County court records show Kyles pleaded guilty to dealing in cocaine in April 2010 and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was previously sentenced to 1 year in prison in January 2008, as for dealing in cocaine.
Kyles faces a charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances which, for 200g of fentanyl, carries a penalty of 5-40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million.
Kyles appeared for an initial hearing at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis on Friday. A detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m.
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