Two Men Charged with Heroin Trafficking

Officers Seize Nearly 24 Pounds of Heroin at KC Bus Terminal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two men traveling through Kansas City, Missouri, were charged in federal court today for possessing nearly 24 pounds of heroin aboard a bus en route from California to New York.

Darwin G. Morales-Sagastume, 23, and Cristian J. Lopez-Catalan, 28, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., with one count of possessing heroin to distribute. They remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Morales-Sagastume and Lopez-Catalan arrived in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday, May 3, aboard a bus that originated in Los Angeles, Calif. As they were waiting in the bus terminal, a police service dog detected illegal drugs in a suitcase that was stored under the bus. The suitcase had the destination of New York written on its tag.

An officer approached Morales-Sagastume and Lopez-Catalan and asked them to identify their luggage. They identified four suitcases, the affidavit says, including the suitcase alerted upon by the police service dog. Officers searched the four suitcases and found two bundles hidden inside each of the suitcases. The eight bundles contained a total of 23.7 pounds of heroin.

The charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Rasalam. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the Missouri Western Interdiction Narcotics Task Force.