Fentanyl trafficking charges filed against Oronogo man

A man from Oronogo is facing charges for allegedly distributing fentanyl in the Joplin area.

30-year-old Cody Dalton Romines was arrested on Monday along Interstate 44 in Jasper County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who pulled him over for speeding alleges that Romines threw a bag out of his window before stopping.

According to court documents, that bag was searched and bundle, tied up in material, was located. Inside the material was a Ziploc bag containing a white, hard, rock-like substance that was later identified as the dangerous synthetic opioid.

The combined weight of the white substance and packaging was approximately 172 grams.

The DEA says just two milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly depending on a person’s body size.

An affidavit claims that Romines admitted to throwing the bag out of the window and admitted that he has been distributing fentanyl in the Joplin area for the last several years.

He’s being charged with intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] prompanamide (fentanyl), a Schedule II controlled substance.

He’ll be back in court Tuesday.