(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Billings woman may pay $5M after pleading guilty to drug trafficking in Rocky Boy – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- August'] Date: 2022-08 A Billings woman faces up to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine after pleading guilty to two charges related to drug trafficking on Monday in U.S. District Court in Great Falls, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Chantel Marie Azure, 33, was suspected of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl on the Rocky Boy Reservation. Azure pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Using a search warrant on Azure’s Facebook account, police found evidence of her trafficking both meth and pills, the release said. According to the release, the government alleges that for two months last winter, Azure conspired to distribute meth and fentanyl in both Havre and in Rocky Boy. The release said that Azure sold 10 suspected fentanyl pills for $800 to a police informant. Police continued to monitor Azure, who drove a car with two male passengers, and intervened after witnessing “what appeared to be another transaction with a known local drug user.” Police arrested the two passengers in Azure’s car and found the money from the earlier controlled buy on them, as well as meth and fentanyl pills. The case was investigated by the Tri Agency Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration and Havre Police Department and was part of the DOJ’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which serves as a coordinated law enforcement effort to “reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.” Law enforcement made more fentanyl seizures in Montana in the first three months of 2022 than in the previous four years combined, according to a Montana DOJ release in April. The number of fentanyl related deaths in the state more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, with 41 and 87 respectively, according to a Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services news release in June. DPHHS said these are cases where “fentanyl was indicated in postmortem results but may not always be the cause of death.” However, DPHHS said in that same time, the opioid overdose-related 911 responses increased by approximately 35 percent. Naloxone, known commonly under the brand name Narcan, can reverse an overdose, and is available for free for Montanans through the state at pharmacies and local organizations, which can be found online. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/briefs/billings-woman-may-pay-5m-after-pleading-guilty-to-drug-trafficking-in-rocky-boy/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/