Former Mexican sports director arrested in Utah on fentanyl trafficking charges

Ricardo Verduzco Bernal, who previously served as the director of Municipal Sports in Guasave, Sinaloa, has been arrested and charged with fentanyl trafficking in Utah. The Utah District Attorney's office announced the charges, also detailing a separate but related case against Mexican national Jesús Alexis Cecena Cota.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Wasatch Metro unit, an investigation into Bernal, 54, and his alleged accomplices began this month. They are suspected of being part of a drug trafficking organization believed to be distributing large amounts of fentanyl and other narcotics within the District of Utah. Agents posed as buyers and conducted a "controlled purchase of fentanyl" from Bernal, who was in the United States on a visitor visa.

Following the purchase, agents executed a search warrant on a hotel room in Salt Lake County, Utah, on August 12. During the search, approximately 11,160.65 grams of fentanyl were seized, which authorities estimate equates to about 111,000 fentanyl pills. The indictment was filed on August 13 and publicly announced on August 20.

Bernal served as the director of the Municipal Sports Institute in Guasave in 2022 and reportedly left the position in 2024 to join the Sinaloan Institute of Physical Culture and Sports. In the separate case, Cecena Cota, 22, has also been charged. An investigation into him and alleged accomplices began in July. A search of his residence, vehicle, and storage unit in West Valley City, which Cota allegedly used for drug distribution, was conducted on August 11. During this search, 1.44 grams of methamphetamine were recovered from the vehicle, 9,351.45 grams of fentanyl (approximately 93,000 pills) from the storage unit, and an additional 21.7 grams of fentanyl from the residence.

Both Cota and Bernal face charges of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, presented in separate indictments. Cota's jury trial is scheduled for August 27, 2026, and Bernal's for August 26, 2026, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Salt Lake City. Combined, these operations have resulted in the seizure of fentanyl equivalent to approximately 204,000 pills.