Police union executive led scheme to smuggle opioids marked ‘party favors,’ feds say

The executive director of a California police union faces federal charges of running an opioid-smuggling scheme, federal officials say.

Joanne Marian Segovia, 64, works for the San Jose Police Officers Association, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern California said in a Wednesday, March 29, news release.

A criminal complaint accused Segovia of using her home and work computers to arrange at least 61 shipments containing thousands of synthetic opioid pills to her home over the course of about seven years, the release said.

The opioids, intended for distribution across the United States, were falsely marked as “wedding party favors,” “gift makeup” and “chocolates and treats,” prosecutors said.

In one instance, she is accused of arranging a shipment of fentanyl from China, listed as a clock, that was intercepted in Kentucky after investigators questioned her in February, the release said.

Segovia used encrypted WhatsApp communications to plan the logistics of receiving and shipping the drugs, the release said.

She exchanged thousands of messages on the app with someone in India between January 2020 and March 2023, discussing shipping and payment details, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Segovia would face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The San Jose Police Officers Association said in a statement that no one in the union knew about Segovia’s illicit activities, KTVU reported.

“The Board of Directors is saddened and disappointed at hearing this news and we have pledged to provide our full support to the investigative authorities,” union spokesperson Tom Saggau told the station.

The US opioid crisis

Overdoses are a leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2021, there were nearly 51,000 overdose deaths in the country, according to CDC data. In the past 21 years, drug overdoses have killed more than 932,000 people, the CDC reported.

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