SALT LAKE CITY — A 25-year-old man from Taylorsville has been arrested and charged for possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute following an undercover operation.

A federal criminal complaint was filed against Flavio Cesar Mazariegos Covarrubias by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

According to court documents, an investigation was opened by the FBI’s Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force as agents believed Covarrubias and a drug trafficking organization were distributing “large quantities of narcotics in Utah.”

“Recently, an undercover agent purchased fentanyl from the defendant which led to his arrest,” read a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.

During the arrest, approximately 5,000 blue-colored pills and approximately 40 brightly-colored pills, which tested positive for fentanyl, were seized.

The case remains under investigation by the FBI.