An illegal drug up to 20 times more lethal than fentanyl has made its way to Guam through an alleged conspiracy between a convicted murderer serving life in the Guam Department of Corrections, and a DOC guard. This is according to a recently unsealed federal indictment charging inmate Edward Glen Demapan and Trevor J. Wolford with conspiracy to distribute, and distribution of fentanyl and a drug called N–Pyrrolidino Protonitazene.
N–Pyrrolidino Protonitazene is a benzimidazole-opioid compound that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has said is part of a class of drugs commonly referred to as nitazenes.
“Since 2019, there has been an emergence of benzimidazole-opioid compounds on the illicit drug market, which have been positively identified in numerous cases of fatal overdose events,” the DEA published in a 2024 white paper. “Recently, law enforcement has encountered N-pyrrolidino metonitazene and N-pyrrolidino protonitazene in solid forms (powder and tablets) on the illicit drug market. These substances are not approved pharmaceutical products and are not approved for medical use anywhere in the world.”
As of the 2024 white paper, deaths due to this drug were reported in California, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Most people, according to the limited information available about the drug, do not know what the drug is and abuse it believing it is fentanyl or some other drug.
According to the Center for Forensic Science and Research, this emerging drug is 1.5 to 20 times more lethal than fentanyl. It is 400 times stronger than morphine.
For perspective, fentanyl is up to 80 times more potent than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Alleged Crimes
According to the federal grand jury indictment, Mr. Demapan and Mr. Wolford began a conspiracy to distribute N-pyrrolidino protonitazene “[b]eginning on a date unknown and continuing until at least November 8, 2024 in Guam “and elsewhere.” On November 8, 2024, according to the indictment, the defendants “knowingly and intentionally distributed a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene.”
About two months later, according to the indictment, the pair conspired to distribute fentanyl in Guam and another unnamed location. Then, on January 17 this year, the indictment states, they trafficked the drug.
Demapan’s Connection to Another Meth Case
This is not the only federal drug case where Mr. Demapan just this year finds himself as a defendant. According to a federal case unsealed in a Texas district, but which remains sealed in Guam as Criminal Case 25-00046, Mr. Demapan and Houston resident Liana Joelene Cabrera, along with others, conspired to distribute and trafficked what sources say is multimillions of dollars in meth between Houston and Guam. Mr. Demapan, according to the complaint, participated in the conspiracy and trafficking of drugs throughout Guam from his prison cell at the Guam DOC using several cell phones.
Inmates are not supposed to have cell phones, and DOC guards are supposed to be on watch for such contraband.
Mr. Demapan’s role in the conspiracy was discovered by a confidential source of the DEA.
Simultaneous to the investigation into Mr. Demapan’s role in the alleged drug trafficking organization, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and DEA officers identified several addresses in the Houston and Guam areas suspected of being used to traffic drugs and to send cash. The federal agents monitored an online account used to simplify mailing and shipping for businesses as belonging to and under the control of Ms. Cabrera from her Houston address.
On August 7 last year, a package containing $80,160 in cash was intercepted by USPIS as it headed from a Tamuning address to Houston. According to the complaint, USPIS “utilizing internal databases, established that there were multiple inquiries on the tracking of the above referenced package that contained $80,160 USC and were able to identify I.P. addresses associated to these inquiries. DEA-GRO then subpoenaed T-Mobile who was found to be the host of the I.P. addresses. T-Mobile produced the associated account information and it was found that the T-Mobile account is billed to Liana CABRERA at 21598 Kings Bend Dr, Kingwood, TX. T-Mobile also identified the phone number and IMEI of the cellular device utilized. The phone number was identified as 346-855-1904 and was subsequently found to be subscribed in CABRERA’s name.”
Three days later, the complaint says, USPIS intercepted a package sent from the Houston area and headed to Guam, which contained almost seven pounds of meth, most of which tested to be 99 percent pure methamphetamine hydrochloride. The parcel was shipped using the same online account linked to Ms. Cabrera.
As federal agents investigated further, they found – through Ms. Cabrera’s online activity – that she allegedly was the person who had sent an undisclosed number of pounds of meth from the Houston area to Guam over an extended period. Among the evidence investigators gathered through warrants obtained in federal court was information found on her iCloud account, which “revealed screenshots of multiple postal tracking numbers associated to seized USPS parcels that contained methamphetamine.”
Among the photos discovered is a screenshot of Mr. Demapan in his DOC prison cell video chatting with Ms. Cabrera. According to the complaint, federal agents tracked at least two cell phone numbers to Mr. Demapan that he used to communicate with Ms. Cabrera. The federal agent working the case said that the two were in a relationship during the alleged conspiracy, and that the evidence points to Mr. Demapan being in charge of the drug trafficking organization, and that Ms. Cabrera was “responsible for sending methamphetamine to Demapan.”
A reading of the indictment involving Mr. Wolford and the complaint involving Ms. Cabrera provides no nexus between the two cases except for Mr. Demapan as the common defendant.
Mr. Wolford has been taken off duties that place him with inmates and detainees.
Mr. Demapan is in federal detention.
Ms. Cabrera was extradited from Houston and is in the custody of the Guam Department of Corrections awaiting federal trial.
Others have been charged in the case involving Ms. Cabrera, however, because the case remains sealed in Guam, Kandit will not disclose their names or their alleged part in the conspiracy.
Kandit has sent a WhatsApp message to director of corrections Fred Bordallo asking how it is possible that a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in his facility could have multiple cell phones and carry out multiple drug trafficking conspiracies over an extended period without the knowledge of DOC guards.
“It is speculated that inmates such as Ed Demapan may have been helped from an officer or officers or other inmates that have that type of support pipeline to obtain and keep contraband,” Mr. Bordallo said. “This is why for every confiscation of contraband from illegal drugs, homemade weapons and cell phones, I’m hoping our law enforcement partners both Guam Police Department, Federal, and our Guam Office of the Attorney General and even U.S. Attorney’s Office could examine those confiscated cell phones and attempt to determine what communications data are stored to elicit any names of people involved.”
According to Mr. Bordallo, the last time DOC guards were randomly drug tested was more than a year ago. He also said he believes he has the legal authority to drug test all uniformed officers, but that his agency does not have the budget for that.
We also have asked Governor Lou Leon Guerrero’s communications director, Krystal Paco-San Agustin, whether the governor continues to have confidence in DOC considering the findings by federal investigators. She said she would research the issue and provide a response later.
1 Comments
Stoic Santos
06/10/2025 at 6:54 PM
Holy holy lord wow! drug trafficker all from the comfort of their cell. Interested to know who the others involved are.