NETFORCE drug trafficking investigation leads to 15 arrests
Drugs were being trafficked from Mexico and Puerto Rico to Southwest Florida, officials say
A multi-year, multi-agency effort to infiltrate and dismantle a large-scale drug operation that involved drugs being trafficked from Mexico and Puerto Rico to Southwest Florida has resulted in 15 arrests and the confiscation of drugs, guns and cash.
The State Attorney’s Office and NETFORCE law enforcement partners served seven search warrants throughout Lee and Collier counties in recent days as part of Operation Gulf of America.
All 15 suspects that were being sought were located, taken into custody and face a variety of charges including conspiracy, drug trafficking, and maintaining a residence for purposes of drug trafficking, officials said.
Evidence seized during the execution of the warrants and during the arrests include 30 firearms; 1.83 grams of Fentanyl; nearly 10 kilos of cocaine; 10.4 grams of Oxycodone; 1,127.4 grams of marijuana; 730.6 grams of THC wax, and an estimated $150,000 in cash.
“This investigation started from an extensive investigation by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office,” the State Attorney’s Office said in a release following a press conference in Fort Myers. “NETFORCE then joined and began the multi-agency Operation Gulf of America. Due to the size of this investigation, additional law enforcement agencies from Texas to Puerto Rico, also assisted. Of the 15 defendants arrested, some worked day jobs and were also drug traffickers. One defendant worked in an assisted living facility in Collier County and another defendant worked in the construction industry.”
“This demonstrates the brazenness of this problem,” State Attorney Amira Fox said. “These drug traffickers hide in plain view, living as if they are law-abiding citizens but are trafficking deadly drugs into Southwest Florida.
“Operation Gulf of America shows NETFORCE will do what it takes to find those responsible for drug
trafficking. We will track you, find you, and prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Port Authority Police, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, State Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), led the investigation locally.
NETFORCE was formed by Fox in conjunction with law enforcement agency partners to coordinate a circuit-wide approach to infiltrating and dismantling drug trafficking organizations, organized crime, racketeering, and money-laundering enterprises in Southwest Florida.
NETFORCE includes federal, state, and local agencies working together. In addition to the State Attorney’s Office, they are Homeland Security Investigations, FDLE, Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Port Authority Police, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Naples Police Department, FHP, Marco Island Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, Customs and Border Protection (Air and Marine Operations), HIDTA, Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, Punta Gorda Police Department, Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, and Glades County Sheriff’s Office.
Source: State Attorney’s Office