A man accused of setting up a California-to-Hawaii drug shipment operation that delivered methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl to market in the islands entered guilty pleas Thursday in federal court.

Jeffrey Bayani Espejo entered pleas of guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter.

Espejo’s attorney, Marc Jeffrey Victor, declined comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret C. Nammar is prosecuting the case for the government.

“The amounts of fentanyl being seized in our criminal investigations continue to increase at an alarming rate,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors in a statement to the Honolulu Star- Advertiser. “As no county is immune from this threat, we will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to prosecute distributors such as defendant Espejo.”

Espejo faces 10 years to life in prison and up to a $10 million fine when he is sentenced at 1:30 p.m. April 27 by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi.

According to a plea agreement filed Thursday, from July 2021 through Feb. 24, Espejo had an agreement with a narcotics supplier in California who would front him heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Espejo would sell the drugs in Hawaii and then send the money back to his California supplier, according to the plea agreement.

On Feb. 24 at about 5 p.m., agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration “consensually encountered” Espejo after he parked his car in front of the Dolphin Bay Hotel, Room 4, in Hilo.

The agents identified themselves and asked whether Espejo would be willing to speak with them, according to the criminal complaint. At about 5:05 p.m. the agents asked Espejo whether he had any drugs in his hotel room.

Espejo advised the agents that he had “some.” The agents asked Espejo whether they could search his room, and he agreed. The agents found eight plastic “wrapped objects resembling crystal methamphetamine” inside a dresser drawer.

Found near the drawer were a backpack that contained a large amount of blue “M-30” pills inside a plastic bag, suspected fentanyl powder and a loaded firearm.

Espejo told the agents that the pills contained fentanyl and that he had “about a thousand.” The DEA agents weighed out the methamphetamine, and it totaled 3,717 grams, or more than 8 pounds.

Agents also allegedly found Espejo packing a Tisas-Turkiye ZIG PC1911 .45-caliber pistol with five rounds of ammunition.