Previously deported illegal alien arrested for allegedly dealing meth in Utah — media still tries to hide immigration status



An illegal alien with multiple deportations to his name has been arrested in connection with approximately 50 pounds of methamphetamine seized in the Salt Lake City area.

Last month, Fermin Castro Tovar, a 25-year-old Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, came on the radar of local law enforcement after he allegedly "delivered controlled substances" to a police source, a probable cause statement said. A GPS tracker was then surreptitiously placed on Tovar's vehicle, and officers quickly learned he made frequent visits to an apartment where he does not reside.

Ksl.com and ABC4 mentioned nothing about his immigration status until the final paragraph of their respective stories.

On Thursday, federal and local agents were issued three search warrants in connection with Tovar. This first warrant permitted them to search a storage unit, where agents allegedly discovered 25 lbs. of meth.

As Tovar drove home from work that day, agents pulled him over and arrested him without incident.

They then shared with Tovar that they had discovered meth at his storage unit. Rather than deny anything or demand a lawyer, he apparently became quite cooperative. Not only did he allegedly inform investigators that they would find another six pounds of meth at his main residence, prompting a second search warrant, but he even reportedly copped to his role in an international drug-running scheme.

He acknowledged that he was "being coordinated and directed by a source of supply in Mexico," the arrest report said. "He admitted to distributing methamphetamine about two times a week in the Salt Lake County area."

Tovar also allegedly admitted to investigators that the apartment he visits is yet another place to store meth. No one lives there, he said. Agents then got a third warrant to search the apartment, where they reportedly seized another 20 pounds of meth.

"Castro Tovar admitted having access to all three locations, and being responsible and temporary owner of all the methamphetamine seized. He was the person directly in contact with the sources of supply to pick up the methamphetamine and distribute it throughout the area," arresting documents said.

Tovar was ultimately charged with three felony counts of second-degree distribution of a controlled substance and booked into Salt Lake City Jail, where is now held without bail. He is also considered a flight risk because he has family in Mexico and a "history of deportation," the Gephardt Daily reported, so ICE has issued an immigration detainer against him.

Despite his previous deportations and the seriousness of the accusations against him, several media outlets have still seemingly buried the news about his legal status. A quick internet search revealed that at least three Utah outlets covered the Tovar story, and none of them mentioned his status in their headlines.

In fact, Ksl.com and ABC4 mentioned nothing about his immigration status until the final paragraph of their respective stories. The Gephardt Daily, by contrast, made frequent references to Tovar's immigration status and noted that he speaks only Spanish. However, even the Daily referred to Tovar simply as a "northern Utah man" in its lede paragraph.

Thomas Stevenson, the politics editor with the Post Millennial, called out Ksl.com for its framing of the Tovar story, accusing the outlet of "providing cover for Utah’s immigration policy failures."

— (@)

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2 children died in Amish buggy crash, police investigating how identical twins, meth, and damning internet searches relate to tragic case



A tragic accident in Minnesota took the lives of two children when a woman accused of driving under the influence crashed into an Amish buggy in September. Police are now investigating how identical twins, meth, and damning internet searches relate to the heartbreaking case.

Samantha Petersen, 35, was charged with 21 felonies, including four counts of criminal vehicular homicide – operating a vehicle with neglect, eight counts of aiding an offender, and four counts of criminal vehicular operation.

A probable cause statement said Petersen tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, Delta-9 THC, and the metabolite of Delta-9 THC.

Court records show she was previously convicted of drunk driving in October 2015 and impaired driving under a controlled substance in August 2018.

Police suspect that Petersen's identical twin sister – Sarah Petersen – switched clothes with Samantha at the crime scene in an alleged attempt to take responsibility for the deadly crash.

Sarah Petersen has been charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide – operating vehicle with neglect, eight counts of aiding an offender, and four counts of criminal vehicular operation.

KTTC reported, "According to the complaint, the SUV involved in the deadly crash was traveling between 63 and 71 miles per hour when it rear-ended the buggy on Fillmore County Road 1 in Fillmore County. The speed limit on that stretch is 55 miles per hour."

Two children in the Amish buggy – 7-year-old Wilma Miller and 11-year-old Irma Miller – were killed in the fatal accident. Their siblings – a 9-year-old brother and a 13-year-old sister – were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The 9-year-old suffered a broken left shoulder, lacerated kidney, torn spleen, concussion, and slight bleeding in his brain. The 13-year-old endured facial scarring.

Law enforcement admitted that the sisters being identical twins "added a lot of complexity" to the investigation.

"As the days continued beyond that first day where the crash was reported, inconsistencies started to appear in both sisters' stories and in the evidence that the deputies uncovered," Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge DeGeorge said during a press conference on Thursday. "Later, it was determined through a series of search warrants, interviews, analysis of different data that in fact Samantha Petersen, Sarah's twin sister, was driving that vehicle."

DeGeorge stated, "Sarah was on scene a short time before our first deputy arrived. That allowed them to come up with this story where Sarah would take responsibility for the crash and start to mislead the investigation from that point."

An investigator interviewed Sarah Beth Petersen after the fatal wreck, and recorded the conversation – apparently unbeknownst to the sisters. Sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Dornink briefly left the interview, and that's when Samantha walked over to her sister and reportedly said, “I think that one of the guys is onto me but I don’t really care … There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell."

A major turning point in the investigation arrived when law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for the sisters' cell phones.

According to court documents, Samantha Petersen's cell phone sent a text message to a friend on Sept. 25 that read: "I hit that Amish buggy and killed two ppl [sic]. Made Sarah come there and take the fall for it so I wouldn't go to prison."

DeGeorge said the charges took a "very long time" to get processed because it was a lengthy process to acquire and analyze cell phone data.

Police said Samantha Petersen called the human resources department after the deadly car crash.

Additionally, police say Samantha Petersen called the human resources department at her work shortly after the car wreck.

“I (expletive) up ... I just killed two Amish people. They were kids ... I just hit a (expletive) buggy ... I’m not sober ... I’m high on meth," Samantha told the human resource manager – who later reportedly informed police.

Samantha Petersen allegedly made damning internet searches following the fatal accident.

USA Today reported, "Police say they also found various internet searches on Petersen's phone, including: 'What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people?'"

Sarah Petersen’s first court appearance is scheduled for April 1.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help financially support the grieving family. At the time of publication, the crowdfunding campaign raised more than $90,000.

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Amish buggy crash kills two, twin sisters involved try to cover-up who did it www.youtube.com

Woman charged with murder after she reportedly passed meth to inmate boyfriend through a kiss

Woman charged with murder after she reportedly passed meth to inmate boyfriend through a kiss



A Tennessee woman is in custody facing second-degree murder charges after corrections officers alleged that she passed methamphetamine to an inmate by kissing him during a prison visit. The man later died of an overdose.

Rachel Dollard, 33, has been accused of passing a half of an ounce of meth to inmate boyfriend Joshua Brown, 30, "as the two exchanged a kiss during visitation at the Turney Center Industrial Complex," a report says.

Brown then supposedly swallowed the balloon containing the methamphetamine and later died of an overdose at a local hospital.

Brown had been serving an 11-year sentence for drug-related offenses. Information listed at the Tennessee Department of Corrections website says he began serving his sentence in July 2016, though a TDOC press release, which confirmed his 11-year sentence, also stated that his sentence was set to expire in 2029. A call made to TDOC did not clarify the discrepancy.

The kissing incident allegedly occurred back in February, but Dollard had not been charged until last weekend. In addition to second-degree murder, Dollard has also been charged with introducing contraband into a penal facility. She faces up to 60 years in prison, if convicted.

"This incident points to the real dangers of introducing contraband into prisons and the consequences that follow," said David Imhof, Director of TDOC’s Office of Investigations and Conduct. "Our agency will pursue prosecution against any individual who threatens the safety and security of our staff, the men and women in our custody, and our facilities."

TDOC further stated that it has several protocols in place to prevent drug exchanges during inmate visits, "including pat searches of anyone entering a facility, vehicle and cell searches, and drug detection dogs."

It is unclear whether Dollard has yet made a court appearance or secured an attorney.

Dollard's mother, Sonia Dollard, told reporters that her daughter has denied the charges.

"She says she didn’t do it," Sonia Dollard said. "She says that’s not what happened, that she didn’t do it, that she didn’t do this. She cared a lot about Josh. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know, but she’s denying this happened."

"[W]e've been blindsided by this," she continued. "It’s a tragic, tragic, tragic thing for Josh’s family and our family, and we are just praying for God to come into this and help us all through it."


Horowitz: DHS released nearly 100K illegal aliens in just one month: Tip of the invasion iceberg



In one respect, when DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Rep. Chip Roy at a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing that the DHS has operational control over the border, he wasn’t lying. His department is now releasing close to 100,000 illegal aliens per month into the interior of the country. Thus, this is actually a controlled and purposeful mass migration, although there are many more gotaways that funnel through our border during the chaos. Either way, our country can’t last with such a volume of invaders until there is a new president in 2025. Arizona and Texas, buttressed by the other red states, must take action now.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin is reporting that the DHS acknowledged in a recent court document that CBP and ICE released or paroled 95,318 illegal aliens just in the month of May. They are all coming to a city near you. And this has been going on for a year and a half and will likely continue for another two and a half years if Texas and Arizona Republicans don’t secure their own border. In April, 118,000 were released. In other words, there will likely be more than one million invaders released into every corner of this country in one year.

Oh, and those are the “good ones.” What about the gotaways – the ones who pay the cartels larger sums to cross over surreptitiously because they likely have criminal records? According to Melugin, 445,837 gotaways are estimated to have gotten away from agents during the first eight months of fiscal year 2022, and over 800,000 since the beginning of FY 2021.

\u201cNEW: Per CBP sources, there have been at least 445,837 known gotaways at the Southern border since Oct 1.\n\nSECTOR BREAKDOWN: \n\nTucson: 141,636\nDel Rio: 126,966\nEl Paso: 47,045\nSan Diego: 36,379\nRGV: 32,791\nYuma: 24,932\nLaredo: 16,069\nBig Bend: 14,737\nEl Centro: 5,282\n@FoxNews\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1655655390

So, in total, there have been 3 million apprehensions of illegal aliens since Biden took office, nearly half were likely deposited into the country, and there were 800,000 known gotaways. Just in one weekend in one border sector, Border Patrol arrested a murderer, a rapist, and nine gang members. You can imagine that most of them are not caught and are among those 800,000 gotaways. However, those numbers are likely much higher.

\u201c3-Day Report:\n\u2022374lbs. #Meth\n\u202234lbs. #Fentanyl\n\u20222lbs. #Heroin\n\u20221,487 migrants in 7 Large Groups\n\u20229 Stash Houses, 133 migrants\n\u20227 Sex Offenders\n\u20221 Murder 2nd Degree\n\u20221 Child Abuse resulting in Death\n\u20226 Rescues\n\u20221 Agent Assault\n\nThe Border is Not Open!\n#USBP\u201d
— Chief Raul Ortiz (@Chief Raul Ortiz) 1655421062

Typically, gotaways are counted from a mix of Aerostat blimps equipped with sensors and from agents counting footprints in the ground and adding them to the hits they get on all the cameras and sensors. Then they compare those suspected infiltrations against the apprehension numbers. However, one veteran agent in the Rio Grande Valley told TheBlaze that he knows for a fact that the numbers are lowballed and they are not counting all the gotaways. “To begin with, ‘cutting sign,’ which means counting the footprints of the gotaways, is often difficult, because the guides will often brush out the signs, walk in hard-packed areas, or travel in thick brush, caliche [hard rock], or on hard-paved roads.”

Thus, those cases represent the number of unknown gotaways. The agent also explained that there are known gotaways that are simply not recorded. “There are thousands that are known but are either NOT recorded or placed in a different category in order to lower the number of gotaways, i.e. non-violations, no arrest, and unresolved detection. This may be a surprise, however: Since the Trump administration we have been fudging our numbers in the Rio Grande Valley and literally erasing foot sign.”

Also, keep in mind that the morale of the agents is very low, and now the higher-ups are taking actions against agents over the false blood libel accusing them of whipping Haitians in Del Rio last summer. So needless to say, agents are not exactly motivated to assiduously count every last sign of a gotaway that they know our government will do nothing about.

Indeed, according to the DHS’ Border Security Metrics Report from 2019, “While USBP has reliable administrative data on apprehensions, the Department does not have an exact count of unlawful entry attempts since an unknown number of illegal border crossers evade detection. As a result of this so-called ‘denominator problem,’ the Department must estimate the apprehension rate.”

In other words, there are likely more than 50,000 or so gotaways every month, especially given the chaos and free rein that the cartels enjoy now at the border, knowing that this administration is on their side. One cannot fathom the amount of crime that will plague our cities for decades to come as a result of this incalculable influx of criminals into the country.

Which is why Texas and Arizona must lead the way in deporting illegal aliens and patrolling for gotaways. As Arizona Republican Party chairwoman Kelly Ward suggested, Arizona should follow Florida’s lead and create a state guard. Texas already has one, but it needs to be used for the border – and not just to babysit, but to interdict and deport. Texas and Arizona citizens would sign up in droves to serve their state and, by extension, the entire country by working to actually defend our own border rather than other countries’ borders, as most of our national guardsmen have been forced to do for the past two decades.

The Florida governor has explicitly called upon the border states to repatriate the invaders on their own. “What Texas needs to do is just send them [illegal immigrants] back across the border,” Gov. DeSantis said at a press conference last week. “Who cares what the Feds are saying? They aren’t doing their job.

“Texas shouldn’t let them come across the border to begin with. They just walk right across the river,” he added. “No one is stopping them.” DeSantis also offered to send help to the border states if they request it.

The Arizona constitution (§ 26-174) authorizes the governor to establish a new state guard “for the safety and protection of the lives and property of the citizens of the state.” At this point, if the cartel war on Arizona doesn’t justify such protection of life and property, than nothing ever will.

Texas parents charged with murder after baby dies from ingesting meth



Parents in Texas face murder charges after their baby girl died from being exposed to methamphetamine, according to police.

Shawn Edward Lankford, 43, and Heather Dijon Williams, 30, were charged with murder for their alleged connection with the death of their infant child.

On March 19, 2022, first responders and deputies from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call that a child was not breathing. Emergency medical services personnel were performing CPR on a female infant child. The baby was rushed to the Methodist Midlothian Medical Center. However, the baby died the same morning after “lengthy life-saving measures.”

An autopsy conducted by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office revealed the infant's cause of death was “toxic effects of methamphetamine in an unsafe sleeping environment.”

Deputies told KWTX-TV that the baby died after ingesting meth.

After the cause of death was established by authorities, arrest warrants were issued for the parents. Lankford and Williams were arrested on June 7, 2022.

They were both booked into the Wayne McCollum Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

There have been at least three instances when an adult has been charged with a serious crime after a child has died after exposure to methamphetamine and fentanyl.

In January, 28-year-old Kentucky mother Shaylynn Curtis was charged with murder after her 5-month-old son died from acute methamphetamine intoxication, according to WKRN-TV.

In March, Ronald Spencer, 40, and Christy Shadowens, 48, were watching their 1-year-old niece in Tennessee. While babysitting the baby, she became unresponsive and stopped breathing. A toxicology report revealed the baby died of acute methamphetamine toxicity, according to WKRN-TV.

Also in March, John Valiquette, 24, and Andrea Smarr, 26, were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. WESH reported that the 14-month-old boy died from drug toxicity after meth and fentanyl were found inside the child's system.

Overdose rates up 700% in Oregon after the state decriminalized the possession of hard drugs



Overdose rates in the state of Oregon rose by 700% after voters in the state approved a ballot measure to decriminalize all hard drugs.

Voters in the state of Oregon voted to decriminalize all hard drugs in the pursuit of encouraging those struggling with drug addiction to seek medical help. The measure, referred to as Ballot Measure 110, was the first of its kind in the U.S. and went into effect in February of 2021 after being approved by the public the year before.

Ballot Measure 110 made it so that it was no longer a felony or misdemeanor of any kind to possess drugs in the state of Oregon. At most, people carrying hard drugs are subject to a maximum fine of $100 which can be waived if the person receiving the citation calls a public hotline and receives a free health assessment.

If a person is found to be carrying a “personal amount” of drugs like heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine at most, they will receive a $100 fine.

Of the $300 million that was meant to be allocated to public health resources to fight addiction, only $40 million has been dispersed.

The Daily Mail reported that Ballot Measure 110 has largely had an inverse effect and has led not to more people seeking treatment but to more drug-related deaths and the proliferation of hard drug use throughout Oregonian communities.

Republican state official Lily Morgan said, “We have overdoses increasing at drastic rates.”

Morgan said, “In my community, [there has been] a 700% increase in overdoses and a 120% increase in deaths.”

Shemia Fagan, the Oregonian Secretary of State, said that Oregon residents approved Ballot Measure 110 to “improve the lives of people, to improve our communities.”

Fagan said, “When the voters of Oregon passed Measure 110, we did so because it was a change of policy in Oregon to improve the lives of people, to improve our communities, and in the years since, we haven’t seen that play out.”

She concluded, “Instead, in many communities in Oregon, we’ve seen the problem with drug addiction get worse.”

Steve Allen, Oregon’s behavioral health director, acknowledged that there has been a “dramatic” increase in overdoses and overdose deaths, but he attributed much of these to an influx of methamphetamine laced with fentanyl.

Allen indicated a belief that if public health resources received enough funding and support, then overdose deaths would decrease as the state’s drug problem begins to improve.

He said, “Getting these resources out to the community is incredibly important — not just the harm reduction resources, but people who can support folks who are at risk for overdose.”

Man reportedly calls 911 asking deputies to test his meth, alleging his dealer cheated him. They happily oblige — and place him under arrest.



Authorities in Hernando County, Florida, couldn't believe their ears last week when one resident called 911 with undoubtedly one of the strangest requests they had ever received.

At approximately 7 p.m. on Thursday, an adult man called police dispatchers to request that deputies come to his Spring Hill home to "test the methamphetamine" he had recently purchased from his drug dealer, police said.

Thomas Eugene Colucci, 41, was apparently suspicious that his dealer had cheated him by selling him "fake" meth — and he was eager to see if his hypothesis was correct. Needless to say, deputies happily obliged.

The bizarre incident was documented in a post on the Hernando County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

In the post, the sheriff's office recounted that upon arrival, deputies conducted an interview with Colucci, during which he freely admitted to them that he recently purchased methamphetamine from a male he met in a local bar.

However, he said, after having used some of it, he came to believe the contents were not meth but actually bath salts. He told deputies he knew this because he was an experienced drug user who had used meth before and "knew what it should feel like."

Colucci then "produced two small baggies, each containing a white crystal-like substance" and gave them to the deputies. He reportedly claimed that he wanted his stash tested so that others wouldn't go on to purchase "fake" meth from the same individual who sold it to him.

"Evidently, the substance Colucci had recently purchased did not provide the expected sensation," officials quipped in the post.

He further requested that deputies "put the person in trouble" for selling dangerous drugs, though, according to officials, he was unable to provide a name or any contact info for his dealer.

Nevertheless, deputies performed a field test on the samples and, to Colucci's surprise, both came back positive for meth.

Deputies arrested Colucci and charged him with one count of possession of methamphetamine and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. He is currently being held at the Hernando County Detention Center on a $7,000 bond.

"If you, or someone you know, have doubts about the authenticity of any illegal narcotics you have on-hand or have obtained from another person, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to provide this service, FREE of charge," officials jokingly stated.

Amazingly, it's not the first time police have been asked to test someone's meth. The same thing happened in 2018. That time in Putnam County, Florida.