UM medical professor faces drug trafficking rape charges

MIAMI – Police arrested a radiologist who is a faculty member at the University of Miami School of Medicine on two first-degree felony charges after they said he was trafficking a common date rape drug.

Dr. Dairon Garcia, 44, was identified Friday afternoon on the UM Miller School of Medicine website as an assistant professor of clinical radiology. According to the university, he is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine and joined the UM faculty in 2022.

According to a Miami Police Department arrest report, the investigation into Garcia began with a package intercepted by customs agents at Miami International Airport on Aug. 29 that was destined for a duplex on Southwest 22nd Terrace that belonged to Garcia.

The package sent by the French Postal Service came from a sender in Paris, authorities said. According to the report, it contained almost 7 kg of gamma-butyrolactone, or GBL. GBL is classified as a date rape drug by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to federal authorities, GBL is “an industrial chemical solvent and a precursor chemical to the dangerous gamma-hydroxybutyric acid,” or GHB, and is often used to produce the same effect as GHB. It is known by street names such as “Liquid Ecstasy” and “Coma in a Bottle.”

A special agent with Homeland Security Investigations contacted Miami police after the discovery, the report said.

Police said the package was addressed to someone who lives in the semi-detached house and a company called Damaga Properties. They said on Sept. 12, MPD's SWAT team stood there picking up a woman from her front door. Officers searched the house.

The report said the woman's daughter arrived and explained that the property manager of the semi-detached house “called her and informed her that a package was being delivered to her location for the owner of the property (Dr. Dairon Manuel Garcia) (and) would be delivered.” Please have you received the package.”

Authorities said the woman received text messages as evidence.

Police said they also interviewed another resident of the duplex who said “he also received a package from France under his name on September 7.”

“He also stated that he opened it and found that there were plastic bags of liquid inside that were addressed to him and Damaga Properties,” the report said. “(He) contacted (the property manager) and argued with her.”

Police said the property manager said, “She didn't know why Garcia had sent the packages to the location under (the man's) name, but she would inform him that the package had arrived.”

Authorities said Garcia picked up the package the next day.

The report states that on Sept. 25, the HSI agent told MPD investigators that customs officers intercepted another package containing approximately 5 kilograms of GBL that was addressed to “DG Diagnostics MD LLC” and was registered to Garcia.

Police said Thursday they went to Garcia's condominium in the Epic Tower, 200 Biscayne Boulevard Way in downtown Miami, and took him into custody.

His police statement was redacted from the arrest report.

On Friday, Garcia received a lecture in court from Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer.

“He should be so embarrassed to be here,” Glazer said. “He's a doctor, he's gone through all his years of training and dedicated his life to helping people, and that's what he was arrested for – that's between you, your lawyer and the criminal justice system. Good luck to you, sir.”

As of Friday, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $15,000 bond.

Local 10 News has contacted the Miller School of Medicine for comment on Garcia's arrest and an update on his employment status.

As of Friday evening we had not received a response.