It is mythology that police officers are overdosing on fentanyl by touching it or simply coming into proximity and “inhaling” it. There is nothing but evidence to the contrary, in fact. This is not to say that there aren’t law enforcement officers suffering panic attacks or anxiety attacks as a result of misinformation leading to unwarranted fears. Another myth surrounding fentanyl is that the best way to fight against the scourge of fentanyl-related addiction and death is to bulk up our law enforcement apparatus and shut down immigration from just about everywhere.
On Wednesday, the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California announced that a San Jose Police Union Executive, Joanne Marian Segovia, is charged with the attempted illegal importation of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. The 20-year employee of the San Jose Police Officers Association is alleged to have, over many years, been using both her home and work computers “to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States.”
And it gets worse. So much worse.
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The 64-year-old Segovia is suspected of ordering various opioids “disguised as chocolates, wedding favors and makeup,” from places like Singapore, India, Hungary, and Hong Kong, and then flipping those to others throughout the United States. The United States Attorney says that Ms. Segovia has been running this drug distribution operation since at least October… of 2015. According to the complaint, the investigation into Ms. Segovia began after her name and address came up during a larger investigation into contraband being brought in by way of the San Francisco Bay Area. This investigation included all kinds of illegal cargo, including “hundreds of parcels, destined to 48 states, originating from this network.”
From there:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection records revealed that, between July 2019 and January 2023, SEGOVIA’s address was the intended destination of five shipments that officials seized and opened. These packages contained, respectively, the following controlled substances: approximately 1.55 kilograms of Zolpidem (around 4,000 pills), approximately 1.42 kilograms of Tramadol, approximately 614 grams of Tapentadol, approximately 432 grams of Tapentadol, and approximately 1.16 kilograms of Tramadol.
That’s a lot of drugs.
“Agents also discovered that, according to CBP records, between October 2015 and January 2023, SEGOVIA had approximately 61 shipments mailed to her home.”
Yikes. That’s even more a lot of drugs.
When Segovia was confronted and interviewed by Homeland Security agents, she made a lot of claims:
- She said she only ordered “supplements.”
- She made sure they knew she worked for the police department in some capacity.
- She said she had never ordered any prescription medications through the mail, “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
- She said she did not know how her contact information (address and phone number) ended up in a suspected drug trafficker’s phone.
We aren’t done here.
- Segovia then left for vacation, and when she came back, she contacted the agents and told them the person to blame was her housekeeper. “She repeatedly characterized this individual as suffering from a substance abuse disorder.”
- Faced with a lot of money appearing and disappearing on her CashApp account, Segovia claimed these were payments the housekeeper sent and received, though she was reportedly inconsistent “about whether this woman had access to her (SEGOVIA’s) personal smartphone.”
- She claimed that the WhatsApp communications investigators had were actually an expert impersonation by the housekeeper, who “knows so much about me.”
According to the investigators, some of the packages Segovia sent to other places in the United States were sent with a “return address on the UPS receipt” as “1151 North Fourth Street, in San Jose, California, which is the address of San Jose Police Officers’ Association.” Now you might be saying, this genius housekeeper person could have easily faked a return address!
In June 2021, in the INDIA CHAT, an image (below) was sent from SEGOVIA’s account depicting an HP computer monitor that showed a PayPal receipt in the amount of $999.99, sent to an entity with an apparent Indian name. Several items are visible in the area in front of the monitor, including a San Jose Police Officers' Association letter opener with a business card containing SEGOVIA’s name and notes containing apparent POA- related codes.
The President of the San Jose Police Officers Association, Sean Pritchard, told ABC News that while he was “absolutely taken aback, shocked, became saddened" about the allegations against Segovia, but, “as the days have gone by, I'm at a place where I'm now I'm angry.” Here’s some fun back-and-forth WhatsApp convos between the purported foreign supplier and Segovia, to help you retain some of that anger:
- June 14, 2021: “Sorry, i had 50 new officers starting today so if I’ve been tied up all morning. I’ll be back on the office within an hour and I’ll take care of all of it! Any news on the soma??
- May 2, 2022: “Im so sorry, im on a business trip because we had 2 officers that got shot! I should be home tomorrow night so ill get them shipped as soon as i can.”
Here’s some rainbow-colored icing on this cake. Reportedly, Ms. Segovia was interviewed concerning all of these allegations in February 2023. “On March 13, 2023, federal agents seized a parcel in Kentucky, containing valeryl fentanyl, addressed to Segovia. The package allegedly originated from China on March 10, 2023, and declared its contents as a ‘clock.’”
And to bring this home to the people police are here to serve and protect: Ms. Segovia’s interactions with one suspected drug dealer who seems to have been getting his supply from Segovia, revealed his phone number was tied to a website that “advertises the sale of medications and pills, including ‘Tramadol,’ ‘Adderall,’ and ‘Ambien,’ and offers ‘[c]heap’ prices and ‘[o]vernight shipping.’” This website lists Ms. Segovia’s address in its “contact us” section.
The telephone number listed on this website appears in a 2022 police report from Alabama involving a victim who died from a drug overdose. His spouse told police that the victim regularly ordered pills from the user of telephone number that SEGOVIA also communicated with. The spouse said that the user of this telephone number mailed her husband pill shipments.
San Jose Police Officers Association spokesperson Tom Saggau released a statement that reads:
Last Friday we were informed by federal authorities that one of our civilian employees was under investigation for distribution of a controlled substance and the POA has been fully and completely cooperating with the federal authorities as they continue their investigation. The Board of Directors is saddened and disappointed at hearing this news and we have pledged to provide our full support to the investigative authorities.
Oh yeah. She also used her work email, too.
RELATED STORY: Remember how the GOP and law enforcement said kids were going to get 'rainbow fentanyl?'