Crime

San Diego man accused of smuggling nearly 8 pounds of fentanyl on bus in Kansas City

Greyhound buses, one headed to Los Angeles, arrive at the bus station in downtown Kansas City on Sept. 16, where police were waiting to search baggage with a drug-sniffing dog. Most of the interdiction cases examined by Jackson County prosecutors involved marijuana. Most defendants are from California — where recreational marijuana use is legal — and, for the most part, are taking drugs from one part of the country to another as they pass through Kansas City.
Greyhound buses, one headed to Los Angeles, arrive at the bus station in downtown Kansas City on Sept. 16, where police were waiting to search baggage with a drug-sniffing dog. Most of the interdiction cases examined by Jackson County prosecutors involved marijuana. Most defendants are from California — where recreational marijuana use is legal — and, for the most part, are taking drugs from one part of the country to another as they pass through Kansas City. Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com

A San Diego man was indicted this week in federal court on accusations he smuggled more than seven pounds of fentanyl on a bus stopping in Kansas City.

Jonatan Gutierrez, 28, was charged Tuesday with possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute, according to the federal prosecutor’s office in the Western District of Missouri.

On the morning of Oct. 7, a drug-sniffing dog alerted a Kansas City police officer on a federal task force to Gutierrez’s roller bag at the Greyhound bus station at 1101 Troost Avenue, just east of downtown. The bus Gutierrez rode on originated from California.

Inside, officers allegedly found about 7.6 pounds of fentanyl and 18 pills, according to court records.

This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 2:32 PM.

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Luke Nozicka
The Kansas City Star
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Luke Nozicka was a member of The Kansas City Star’s investigative team until 2023. He covered criminal justice issues in Missouri and Kansas.
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