VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A multi-agency operation led to the arrests of more than 41 people in Central Florida counties for trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and other drugs, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced Tuesday.
The sheriff announced the results of Operation Daly Dose, named for one of the alleged ringleaders of the group.
“These drug traffickers were responsible for distributing kilo amounts of fentanyl in Volusia and Lake counties on a monthly basis,” Chitwood said. “And we say kilos, we’re not talking one kilo. Conservative estimate six to eight kilos a month that were coming in and destroying our counties.”
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
Overall, Chitwood said 2,300 grams of fentanyl was seized in the investigation — the equivalent of 1.5 million doses, along with heroin, opioid pills, cocaine, meth, MDMA, marijuana, 11 firearms and over $100,000.
The arrests include charges of armed trafficking in various drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA, trafficking in stolen property and other crimes, Chitwood said.
Among the agencies involved in the investigation: Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, the Florida attorney general’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, and police departments in New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Ormond Beach, South Daytona, Holly Hill and Port Orange.
Chitwood said the investigation took months and involved multiple search and arrest warrants. However, Chitwood also stressed that an operation like this only takes care of the problem for a short time.
“Now this is probably a little controversial, but I’ll say it anyway,” Chitwood said. “If a terrorist camp was established in Mexico and about 80 of them came up and blew themselves up at the (Daytona International Speedway), we would be blowing that terrorist camp off the face of the earth. Yet these mega drug labs in Mexico are allowed to produce methamphetamine and fentanyl and other drugs, and just ship them into our border and we sit on our hands.”
Chitwood said eventually someone else will set up a drug operation in Volusia County because the money is there and they know the product will come in, either through the north or south borders or through the mail.
“So until you go to the source and wipe it off the map, we’re always going to be chasing our tail,” Chitwood said. “That’s a Chitwoodism, take it for what it’s worth.”
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: