“Operation Flying Ice” in Polk County, Florida, arrested 85 suspected drug dealers, including six ringleaders, according to police.
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A two-year undercover drug investigation has left 85 people arrested, including six drug gang bosses, Polk County police reported.
The so-called “Operation Flying Ice,” in which agencies in Florida, California and Tennessee participated, led to the seizure of drugs valued at $12.8 million, including 268 pounds of methamphetamine and 31 pounds of cocaine, according to a statement. dated August 19 Polk Police.
The investigation began in September 2020 with the seizure of a pound of methamphetamine in Winter Haven, regarding 50 miles southwest of Orlando, according to police.
In February 2022, the agencies began an investigation with recordings and began to intercept the communications of the suspects involved with the trafficking network.
Detectives served 14 search warrants in Auburndale, Davenport, Polk City, Lake Wales, Winter Haven, and Riverview, Florida, as well as Fresno, California,” the press release stated.
Thanks to the thorough investigation, the police captured 85 people and issued arrest warrants for three others, according to the press release.
Of the 85 arrested, six “gang bosses” ended up arrested, including a 32-year-old man accused of killing a person when he crashed into a gas station in Marathon, Florida, regarding 100 miles south of Miami, according to the statement.
In addition, authorities seized approximately 180 pounds of marijuana, 3.4 pounds of MDMA, 68 Xanax pills, 173 Oxycodone pills, 49 firearms, three “non-active” grenades, two bulletproof vests, a stolen motorcycle, and $235,000 in cash.
“These guys have been in trouble with the law before,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a taped news conference posted on the police’s Facebook page. “These individuals are not high school kids who decided to misbehave one weekend, but mostly screwed-up delinquents.”
Many of the drugs were found in luggage, which was often checked on flights without accompanying passengers, Judd said during the news conference.
Some smugglers bought “ghost tickets,” meaning they paid for the ticket, checked the luggage, and never got on the flight, Judd said.
Other flights had “very experienced” and “very smart” criminals on board who would get off the planes and disappear undetected, he said.
Judd said that many of the smugglers bragged regarding how they hid the narcotics in their luggage, which in many cases flew from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) before arriving in Orlando.
“On one airline, six bags of this drug were smuggled into Orlando,” Judd said, standing next to dozens of plastic bags filled with a white powder. “They didn’t even throw a pair of underwear in the bags to act like they were hiding the drugs.”
Among the drugs seized were 6.8 ounces of fentanyl, an amount that sells on the streets for more than $26,000, police said. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, stronger than morphine, that can cause death, especially when mixed with street drugs.
“Two milligrams of fentanyl can be a deadly overdose,” Judd said.
Judd noted that at least two overdose cases occurred during the two-year investigation, including the death of a family member of one of the gang bosses.
Judd told passengers they should be thankful for the security measures they have to go through if they travel by plane.
“When I hear someone complain and complain regarding having to go through scanners and security,” he said, the first thing I think is if they are right in the head. Don’t they realize that we are keeping them safe, that we are protecting their lives?
Translation of Jorge Posada
This story was originally published on August 20, 2022 2:07 pm.
