KING COUNTY, Wash. — A Renton man has been charged for allegedly dealing fentanyl in downtown Seattle.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Tahvon Gregory Mitchell with violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
On July 2, a Seattle undercover officer who was working a counternarcotics operation said he witnessed drug activity in the 1500 block of Third Avenue.
The officer said a man wearing a purple sweatshirt and a red fanny pack approached him and asked if he wanted any “blues.”
According to court documents, blues is a common name drug addicts use to refer to round, blue pills marked with an “M” and a “30″; the pills are often pressed in clandestine laboratories and regularly contain fentanyl.
The undercover officer said he had $20 and the man told him that he could get four “blue,” court records stated.
The officer said he and the man began walking north. He also said he showed the man two $10 bills that were issued to him inside the West Precinct.
The man reportedly pulled out a plastic bag from his fanny pack and placed four blue pills in the officer’s hand. In return the officer gave the man the two issued bills.
The officer said he saw more blue pills inside the plastic bag.
As the man was walking away, the officer signaled to a surveillance officer that the purchase was successful, resulting in the surveillance officer alerting uniformed officers who arrested the man, later identified as Mitchell, court records stated.
The serial-numbered-identified bills that were given to Mitchell were recovered and returned to the West Precinct, police said.
The blue fentanyl pills, 9.5 grams, were entered into evidence.
Mitchell, who has multiple other convictions, including ones for robbery, organized retail theft and assault, is scheduled to enter his initial plea on July 21 at the King County Courthouse.