A former Mexican government sports official was arrested in Utah after federal agents say they found roughly 111,000 fentanyl pill sinside his hotel room. Ricardo Verduzco Bernal, 54, was taken into custody on Aug. 12 in Salt Lake County following an FBI investigation into a drug trafficking organization allegedly distributing fentanyl and other narcotics in Utah.
Federal authorities said agents first conducted a controlled fentanyl purchase from Bernal in August. That operation led investigators to obtain a search warrant for the hotel room, where Bernal was reportedly alone when agents entered.
“On August 12, 2026, agents executed the search warrant, and Bernal was alone inside the room where agents located and seized approximately 11,160.65 grams of field-tested positive fentanyl,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said, according to Mexico News Daily.
Agents estimated the seized material amounted to approximately 111,000 fentanyl pills. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bernal was in the United States on a visitor visa.
The federal case against Bernal is one of two unrelated prosecutions that resulted in authorities seizing approximately 204,000 fentanyl pills in Utah within a single week. Bernal and another Mexican national, Jesus Alexis Cecena Cota, 22, were charged in separate complaints filed Aug. 13.
Bernal is accused of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance and remains in preventive detention while the case proceeds.
Before his arrest, Bernal had held government positions in Sinaloa. He served as head of the high-performance program at the Sinaloa Institute of Physical Culture and Sport during the administration of then-Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. He left the position on July 31, according to Milenio.
Bernal previously served as director of the Municipal Institute of Sport in Guasave from 2022 to 2024. Before that, he worked as a manager with the Guasave water authority.
The US Attorney’s Office said the investigation into Bernal and alleged co-conspirators was launched by the FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force over suspected large-scale fentanyl trafficking in the District of Utah.
Federal authorities said agents first conducted a controlled fentanyl purchase from Bernal in August. That operation led investigators to obtain a search warrant for the hotel room, where Bernal was reportedly alone when agents entered.
“On August 12, 2026, agents executed the search warrant, and Bernal was alone inside the room where agents located and seized approximately 11,160.65 grams of field-tested positive fentanyl,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said, according to Mexico News Daily.
Agents estimated the seized material amounted to approximately 111,000 fentanyl pills. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bernal was in the United States on a visitor visa.
The federal case against Bernal is one of two unrelated prosecutions that resulted in authorities seizing approximately 204,000 fentanyl pills in Utah within a single week. Bernal and another Mexican national, Jesus Alexis Cecena Cota, 22, were charged in separate complaints filed Aug. 13.
Bernal is accused of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance and remains in preventive detention while the case proceeds.
Before his arrest, Bernal had held government positions in Sinaloa. He served as head of the high-performance program at the Sinaloa Institute of Physical Culture and Sport during the administration of then-Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. He left the position on July 31, according to Milenio.
Bernal previously served as director of the Municipal Institute of Sport in Guasave from 2022 to 2024. Before that, he worked as a manager with the Guasave water authority.
The US Attorney’s Office said the investigation into Bernal and alleged co-conspirators was launched by the FBI Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force over suspected large-scale fentanyl trafficking in the District of Utah.
