Denver police arrest 3 in takedown of fentanyl pill-making operation

DENVER — Police in Denver arrested three people in connection with the takedown of a fentanyl pill-making operation capable of producing 20,000 pills per day, the department announced Wednesday.

Tashon Roberts, 33; Coleman Phillips, 34; and Imani Hale, 28, were arrested in May after police — with help from Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — executed a search warrant at a house in the 1800 block of South Olathe Street in Aurora, seizing five pill-making presses and other equipment used in fentanyl pill production, according to a news release.

Officers also found three children in the home during the May police operation, one of whom tested positive for fentanyl exposure, resulting in child abuse charges for all three suspects, police said.

“The warning ‘One Pill Can Kill’ is absolutely true, and the dismantling of this fentanyl pill-making operation has potentially saved lives by ending a significant supply of fentanyl pills into our community,” said Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas in the news release. “Our investigators did an incredible job uncovering the operation and those behind it, and we will continue aggressively pursuing anyone manufacturing or dealing illicit narcotics in Denver.”

All three suspects are facing multiple felony charges. Roberts and Coleman had outstanding warrants for unrelated charges at the time of their arrests, according to Denver police.

In 2023, there were 598 deaths involving drugs, and 389 of those deaths involved fentanyl in Denver alone, according to data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

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