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Affidavit: Man stored 72 pounds of heroin in closet of southern Dallas home

A confidential source tipped off the DEA to a "significant quantity" of heroin for sale in Dallas, and investigators traced it to a southern Dallas home.

DALLAS – A Dallas man was arrested after Drug Enforcement Administration agents found 70 pounds of heroin in the closet of his Dallas home, according to a criminal complaint.

Juan Jose Ontanon-Espinoza faces a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute. He was caught attempting to complete a drug deal and a friend outed the location of his second home apparently used to store drugs.

According to the complaint, a confidential source notified the DEA earlier this month about a “significant quantity” of heroin being sold in the Dallas area. The confidential source was tipped off to the heroin stash by a Mexican drug supplier.

That supplier allegedly helped arrange a transaction for $21,000 per kilogram of heroin.

The source contacted Ontanon-Espinoza on Nov. 7 and the two planned a meeting at a Home Depot in the southeastern Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, according to the complaint.

Ontanon-Espinoza and his friend arrived at the store around noon, and Ontanon-Espinoza gave the source three kilograms of heroin he brought concealed in some clothes.

He and his friend were arrested at the scene.

Ontanon-Espinoza first told investigators that he had gone to a house and taken the heroin from a trash can. He said he didn’t have any homes besides the one he shared with his girlfriend.

His friend, though, told investigators he did have a second home in far southern Dallas – and that it was the home was where he got the clothes used to hide the drugs, according to the complaint. The friend told investigators she thought they were driving to Home Depot to get tools.

Ontanon-Espinoza stopped cooperating with investigators when asked about the second home, and was taken to jail.

The friend agreed to take investigators to the home, on Hortense Avenue less than a mile north of Ledbetter Drive, where they found mail addressed to Ontanon-Espinoza and 33 kilograms (72.75 lbs) of heroin in a closet in the otherwise vacant home.

DEA agents deemed Ontanon-Espinoza’s friend's story “plausible” and released her “despite probable cause existing for her arrest.”

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