Man accused of selling counterfeit pills in the US and running his business from a converted garage in Connecticut

In an inconspicuous garage in Connecticut, a New Haven man manufactured hundreds of thousands of counterfeit pills containing Methamphetaminea powerful opioid and other illegal drugs that he shipped across the United States and distributed to local dealers for sale on the street, according to new indictments from a federal grand jury.

Federal law enforcement officials announced the charges against the man and six others on Monday, calling the case one of the largest counterfeit drug raids in New England history.

Kelldon Hinton, 45, is accused of running the operation from a rented garage he called his “lab” in East Haven, about five miles from downtown New Haven, using drugs and pill presses purchased from dealers in China and other countries, federal authorities said.

Officials said Hinton sent more than 1,300 packages through the U.S. mail between February 2023 and February 2024 to people who purchased the pills on the dark web. He also passed pills on to acquaintances in Connecticut who sold them to their customers, the indictment said.

The six other defendants are also from Connecticut.

Hinton sold counterfeit oxycodone, Xanax and Adderall pills that contained methamphetamine and protonitazene, a synthetic opioid that is three times stronger than Fentanylfederal officials said. The tablets also contained dimethylpentylone – a designer party drug mistakenly called ecstasy – and Xylazinea sedative often called “tranq.”

Hinton and four others were arrested on Sept. 5, the same day authorities used search warrants to raid the East Haven garage and other locations. Officers said they seized several hundred thousand pills, two pill presses and pill-making equipment. One of the pill presses can produce 100,000 pills per hour, authorities said.

A federal public defender for Hinton did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.

Federal, state and local agencies were involved in the investigation, including the Connecticut State Attorney's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local police.

“This investigation reveals the ongoing challenges we face as law enforcement in the fight against the proliferation of synthetic opioids in America,” Connecticut U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a statement.

Counterfeit prescription drugs containing fentanyl and other powerful opioids are contributing to a high number of overdoses across the country, said Stephen Belleau, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's New England Field Division.

“The DEA will aggressively pursue drug trafficking organizations and individuals who distribute this poison to profit and destroy lives,” he said in a statement.

Authorities said they received a tip about Hinton from an unnamed source in June 2023. Law enforcement later began searching and seizing packages sent to and from Hinton, and set up surveillance that showed him dropping off packages at a post office. Investigators also said they ordered counterfeit pills from Hinton's company on the dark web.

In addition to Hinton, prosecutors also charged Heshima Harris, 53, of New Haven; Emanuel Payton, 33, of New Haven; Marvin Ogman, 47, of East Haven; Shawn Stephens, 34, of West Haven; Arnaldo Echevarria, 42, of Waterbury; and Cheryle Tyson, 64, of West Haven. Hinton, Payton and Ogman are currently in custody, while Harris, Stephens, Echevarri and Tyson are free pending trial.

Hinton has a criminal record dating back to 1997 and has been convicted of assault, theft and drug trafficking, among other charges, federal authorities said in a search warrant.

About 107,500 people died of overdoses in the U.S. last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's 3% fewer than in 2022, when there were an estimated 111,000 such deaths, the agency said.

Since 1999, over a million people have died in the country due to overdose epidemics.

As “60 Minutes” reported Sunday, nearly all of the fentanyl flowing into the U.S. is manufactured in Mexico by two powerful drug cartels, with the chemicals sourced primarily from China. And as you're about to hear, it's often hidden in counterfeit pills that look like prescription drugs. It's the scourge of our time. Last year, more than 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl; that's a higher death toll than U.S. military losses in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined.