Charging documents alleged the operation was part of a larger organization and that profits were wired to the group’s headquarters in Mexico. The indictments unsealed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City this week said federal and local narcotics agents investigated the suspects from December 2020 through early this month.

Those arrested included Antonio Giron-Fernandez, 39, of Orem, who charging documents alleged was the leader of the local distribution network. Giron-Fernandez pleaded not guilty to the charges in his first court appearance Monday. He and most other suspects are held in the Davis County Jail in Farmington under contract with the U.S. Marshals’ Service.

Other suspects are Antonio Medina-Garcia, 23, Juan Carlos Heredia-Perez, 21, and Jesus Alberto Zapate-Pacheco, 26, all of Orem;  Michael Shane Ellison, 47, of Provo; Eric Ryan Francis, 35, and Jonathan Christopher McGuire, 41, both of West Valley City; Marc Anthony Pagni, 33, of Salt Lake City; Christina Ann Chance, 40, of Nampa, Idaho, and  Kimberly Jo Hancock, 56, of Eagle, Idaho.

Charges include conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession with intent to distribute heroin. Francis and Aragon also face firearms possession charges, and charging documents allege Giron-Fernandez illegally re-entered the country after being deported.

Narcotics agents used wiretaps and made controlled drug buys from the suspects, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Agents seized 2 kilograms of heroin and several firearms.

According to the indictment against the group, agents confiscated about $14,000 in cash and seven firearms, including pistols, a rifle and a shotgun. Two of the firearms were stolen, the news release said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it would seek to officially seize the cash and the five owned firearms via asset forfeiture action in court.

A detention motion filed by prosecutors against Zarate-Pacheco alleged he “lived at the stash location and worked as a driver.” Prosecutors said someone in the group would take orders and runners would deliver drugs to customers in public places like parking lots. The group even offered door delivery, sometimes within 30 minutes, the document said.

Agents alleged Zarate-Pacheco had an unopened brick of heroin, about a pound, when he was arrested. They said after waiving his rights, he gave details of the alleged operation, including that Heredia-Perez paid him $2,000 to deliver drugs to a customer in Tennessee.

The Utah-Idaho group was one of several cells of the larger trafficking organization in the United States, charging documents said. Heroin was trafficked in Utah, Salt Lake, Tooele and Davis counties, the documents said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and detectives with the Davis Metro Narcotics Task Force and the Layton and West Valley police departments conducted the investigation.