Enough fentanyl to kill almost 60k Floridians seized during joint SAFE operation: Officials

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Published  September 9, 2024 10:39am EDT
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Enough fentanyl to kill almost 60k Floridians seized during joint SAFE operation

FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Tampa Police Department and Clearwater Police Department announced the results of a joint SAFE operation on Monday morning.

The State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (S.A.F.E.) grant is designed to help law enforcement agencies conduct investigations that combat illegal fentanyl activity.

The SAFE program launched last year and has already led to hundreds of arrests related to illegal drug and fentanyl activity.

"Over 100 cases resulting in more than 700 arrests across the state of Florida," FDLE Asst. Commissioner Lee Massie said. "We have removed an excess of 140 pounds of fentanyl from the streets."

Local agencies say the grant allowed them to conduct a months-long investigation that resulted in the arrests of 25 people out of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

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FULL PRESS CONFERENCE: FDLE, police announce results of SAFE operations

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Tampa Police Department and Clearwater Police Department announced the results of two joint SAFE operations on Monday morning.

According to Attorney General Ashley Moody, during the operation about 114g of fentanyl was seized, which is enough to kill 57,000 Floridians. Moody says 1.5kg of cocaine, large amounts of methamphetamine and over 10,000 pills were also discovered over the course of this operation. 

"Part of those pills were these fake prescription pills. We know that these contain fentanyl. We know that these would have resulted in deaths," explained Moody.

According to FDLE Assistant Commissioner Lee Massie, the FDLE partnered with the Tampa Police Department in January. Massie says the agencies began to investigate a drug trafficking organization.

"Agents soon learned that there was a connection between Tampa and a similar Clearwater Police Department investigation. And they found multiple drug trafficking organizations connected through the same supplier. Together, the law enforcement agencies you see represented today joined forces," explained Massie.

On Sept. 5 and 6, Massie says 13 search warrants were served in the Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco County areas.

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Law enforcement seized drugs, over a dozen guns, more than $100,000 and about 250 pounds of ingredients that could have been used to make half a million counterfeit pills.

Tampa PD Deputy Chief Ruth Cate says a mix of illegal and legal substances referred to as precursor drugs are used to make the fake pills.

Officials warned parents that kids are becoming victims of fentanyl overdoses. Moody says the fastest growing demographic of people dying from fentanyl are children under the age of 14.

"Kids don't know what they're getting anymore," Deputy Chief Cate said. "They might think they're borrowing someone's Adderall pill, but it came from the black market, and it's laced with fentanyl."

Clearwater PD Chief Eric Gandy says kids may not realize the dangers of taking black market pills because they associate them with something that's prescribed.

"For instance, they [drug traffickers] make an Adderall pill or something that appears to be an ecstasy pill. So you're using the same pill press that you may be using to press fentanyl, or they include it, or they're so careless and reckless," explained Gandy.

Gandy calls these drug trafficking rings a "one-stop shop."

"You could get any drug you were looking for in one stop," Gandy said.

Investigators are still looking for three suspects in connection with the case.

"We're not going to stop until we put the last person in jail," Cate said.

Despite ongoing effort by local and state agencies, law enforcement officials say there is still a lot of work to be done related to illegal drug and fentanyl activity.

Moody says there has been an overall decline in overdose deaths across Florida. However, there has been an uptick in fentanyl-related deaths in parts of Tampa Bay.

"The Hillsborough County area, about a 17% uptick," Moody said. "In the Pinellas/Pasco area, about a 10% increase."

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