Arrested Suspect Contained Enough Illegal Drugs to Kill 100,000 People
Trevor Phipps
Earlier this month, the Teller County Narcotic Team (TNT) was back at it again working to take illegal drugs off the streets.
The team consisting of multiple law enforcement agencies was first started several years ago to help battle the influx of illegal marijuana grow operations many of them connected to major drug cartels.
Even though the amount of illegal marijuana operations has slowed down, TNT is still actively working towards the goal of keeping drugs off the streets in the county. The team’s recent drug raid resulted in confiscating a significant amount of the dangerous narcotic fentanyl and other illicit substances.
On June 8, TNT, along with the county’s Emergency Response Team (SWAT) executed a search warrant after getting tips that a reported suspect had narcotics in a home just outside of Woodland Park city limits. After searching the home located at 1651 Blackfoot Trail, the deputies arrested 27-year-old Markus Deimling on a slew of felony charges.
Deimling ended up being charged with reckless endangerment, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, possession of an illegal weapon, and a controlled substance special offender charge for having illegal drugs and firearms. At the end of last week, Deimling was still in Teller County Jail with a $50,000 bond.
The search warrant resulted in the confiscation of approximately 2,000 fentanyl pills that equaled 201.3 grams, 1,000 Xanax pills or 140.7 grams, 59 Suboxone strips, $1,508 in cash, a .45 caliber handgun, brass knuckles, a sawed-off 12 gauge illegal shotgun with numerous magazines and boxes of ammunition.
During the day of the raid, social media pages were filled with accounts of residents nearby hearing a loud bang. Neighbors reported several police vehicles along Blackfoot Trail.
The Woodland Park Police Department issued an order for residents in the neighborhood to avoid the area and to stay in their houses if they lived nearby. Deimling was eventually arrested that morning without incident.
Loud Bang Alerts Residents
According to Lieutenant Renee Bunting with the Teller County Sheriff’s Office, the loud bang noise that neighbors heard was due to the deputies using a tactical explosive device during the raid. “The guys through a flash bang because they were calling the guy on his phone and yelling on the intercom for him to come out and he wasn’t responding and he wasn’t answering his phone,” Bunting said. “I think he was really a heavy sleeper so they threw the flash bang. He finally woke up, checked his phone and then went to the window and he must have said ‘hey the police are out there.’ So, he made a couple of phone calls and then he came out.”
A flash bang (also called a stun grenade) is a non-lethal explosive device that emits an extremely loud “Bang” and bright lights. The purpose of the device is to disorient people as it goes off. It can cause temporary blindness and shifts in hearing that typically lasts only a few seconds.
Bunting hinted that Deimling may be connected to drug cartels. “I really feel strongly with as much drugs as he had that he was probably linked to a drug cartel,” Bunting said.
According to multiple online sources, the average price for a single fentanyl pill can range between $25 and $50 with a single gram having a street value of $150 to $200. Therefore, Deimling possessed around $40,000 worth of fentanyl.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) website, two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. So, depending on the purity of Deimling’s pills, he had enough in his possession to kill over 100,000 people.
The recent drug bust is not the first in the past few months. Last August, TNT executed a major bust with over $30,000 in illegal drugs including fentanyl, firearms and stolen vehicles that led to the arrest of eight people.
Last February, 24 year old Cody Haakensen was arrested on a slew of drug charges after being busted with 108 fentanyl pills, 2.6 grams of methamphetamine, 0.55 grams of heroin, seven loaded needles containing heroin, 59 Seroquel pills, 66 trazodone pills and 400 milliliters of an unknown liquid substance. Haakensen has been incarcerated at the Teller County Jail since February with a $25,000 bond.
