California Police Union Leader Busted For International Fentanyl Smuggling, Disguised As Chocolate & Makeup

Joanne Marian Segovia, a 20-year employee and executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association has been charged with importing and distributing fentanyl, muscle relaxers and other drugs through a complex international mail scheme. 

Segovia used her personal and office computers to order thousands of synthetic opioids including valeryl fentanyl that were disguised as chocolates, wedding favors and makeup as part of a plan to distribute them throughout the U.S., according to the criminal complaint filed Monday by the Office of the United States Attorney. 

According to the criminal complaint, Homeland Security agents were led to Segovia through an investigation that looked into a network they said was shipping controlled substances made in India. 

At least 61 shipments containing drugs worth thousands of dollars coming from countries including Hong Kong, Hungary, India and Singapore were shipped to Segovia’s home between October 2015 and January 2023, according to the complaint.

“The manifests for these shipments declared their contents with labels like ‘Wedding Party Favors,’ ‘Gift Makeup,’ or ‘Chocolate and Sweets,’” the US Attorneys Office for Northern California said in a press release. 

“But between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted and opened five of these shipments and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids Tramadol and Tapentadol.” 

Fentanyl Too Easy To Access

"What's really concerning me is that it's just a reminder of how accessible this is," said Santa Clara County supervisor Cindy Chavez who heads the county's fentanyl working group. "And that we, from a law enforcement and a community perspective, need to be much more aggressive and much more assertive about how we deal with interrupting that chain that that we just have been unable to break."

Segovia’s colleagues are shocked.

"I was just absolutely taken aback, shocked, became saddened," said Sean Pritchard, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association (POA). "And as the days have gone by, I'm at a place where I'm now I'm angry."

Segovia has been described as “the grandma” of the organization, which represents rank and file staff at a department with more than 1,000 officers.

"This person has been really known as the grandma of the POA, and it's not the woman that we have known for well over a decade and so that's why it's been so difficult," Pritchard told local media.

Segovia faces up to a maximum sentence of 20 years, according to the complaint.

Photo from Segovia's LinkedIn account