‘Secret fentanyl lab’ in home sends armed trafficker to prison

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — What began as a Fayetteville, North Carolina , police investigation ended in federal charges, a 27-year prison sentence and more than 6 pounds of fentanyl taken out of circulation.

Quavion Maurice Pickett, 30, became the focus of an investigation after a “confidential informant” tipped off Fayetteville police in April 2022 to his role involvement in distributing drugs, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. on Wednesday.

Pickett, a.k.a. “Q,” is a resident of Rock Hill, South Carolina, and has a residence in Fayetteville where police began surveilling after the tip. After observing what appeared to be multiple drug transactions, a search warrant was issued.

While in the home, officers discovered the laundry room was being used as a “secret fentanyl lab,” the Justice Department news release said. The makeshift lab was described as being used as a counterfeit pill-making operation. The fentanyl pills seized were pressed with markings of “A215,” which was to give the appearance of being 30-milligram doses of oxycodone hydrochloride, Easley said.

“Counterfeit pills made with deadly fentanyl in filthy makeshift labs are turning up everywhere,” Easley said. “These pills are made with zero quality-control, with narcotics being mixed in plastic bins, and store-bought blenders by reckless, money-hungry narcotics dealers who care only about money and care nothing for human life.”

Prosecutors in the case against Pickett said the following items were found and seized from Pickett’s at-home lab:

• 1 high-capacity pill press
• Large plastic tote containers covered in light blue powder residue
• Multiple digital scales
• Multiple knotted plastic baggies containing pressed tablets
• A blender covered in powder residue
• Various full and empty bags containing different colored cutting agents
• A money counter covered in powder residue
• Various metal hand tools
• A funnel
• Pill press die molds
• Loose blue tablets
• A baggie containing yellow, white, and blue tablets

The illegal substances were not only confined to the laundry room lab.

In Pickett’s bedroom, there were 157 pressed pills found along with $70,000 in cash found in a shoe box, according to court documents and other information presented in court.

A .45-caliber handgun was also found in his bedroom along with a baggie containing an unspecified amount of marijuana. When officers searched Pickett, they found another $1,760 in cash on him.

Pickett was arrested by state officials after the search, Easley said, and was later indicted by the Eastern District of North Carolina. The federal indictment came after investigators received information that Pickett had bought the pill press eight months prior, along with multiple kilograms of fentanyl used to make the pills.

He was again arrested in South Carolina on Oct. 26, 2022, this time on a federal arrest warrant. Another search took place at this home, which turned over a duffle bag. Inside the duffle bag were 19,016 pressed fentanyl pills, nearly 300 grams of fentanyl powder and a series of drug packaging materials as well as marijuana and $5,525 in cash.

From Sept. 30, 2021, through his arrest in late October 2022, law enforcement concluded that Pickett was “responsible for possession with intent to distribute 8,706.98 grams of fentanyl and 10.50 grams of marijuana.”

In total, Easley said Pickett was caught with 3 kilos of fentanyl. The bottom line to the public he offered was to “never, ever, take a pill bought on the street or online that isn’t prescribed by a real doctor.” In doing so, he said, “You are gambling with your life.”

Pickett admitted he was guilty on April 24, 2024, to manufacturing and trafficking fentanyl pills in the Fayetteville area. On Wednesday, Easley announced Pickett’s sentence by a judge was set at 27 years.

That prison time is set to be followed by five years of supervised release and a forfeiture of more than $72,000 for his crimes.

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