Codefendants Malik Marin, 27, and Tuflah Davies, 27, were both sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a large amount of fentanyl.
Marin, of Bowie, and Davies, of Laurel, traveled from Los Angeles to Rockville via Amtrak train and were transporting drugs, according to court documents.
The men were stopped by Montgomery County Police on Dec. 6, 2023. The officers found multiple bundles of pills wrapped in plastic. They had 2.2 kilograms of pills, many of which were fentanyl, according to court documents.
“Fentanyl is killing people in our county, the country and worldwide. The effort to address the flood of fentanyl into our community is one of the most important things we can do. We thank our law enforcement partners and our own Overdose Prosecution Unit for their work on this case,” said Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
According to court documents, police realized the windows of the car the men got into from the Rockville metro station were tinted darker than legally permitted. They stopped the vehicle. A scan of the GMC Yukon Denali and a narcotics sniffing dog detected drugs. Officers then conducted a probable cause search.
Police found two black suitcases, which contained six bundles of pills, in the trunk.
The two men were sentenced during separate hearings. They both also were sentenced to serve five years of supervised probation upon release.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division Office HIDTA Group 45, led this investigation. The operation was supported in part by the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN).
