Ashley Moody announces bust of fentanyl ring, 64 arrested in major operation
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution announced a major operation resulting in the dismantling of a fentanyl trafficking network.
Authorities from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement have arrested 64 individuals linked to the trafficking ring.
According to Moody’s office, throughout the course of the operation, law enforcement seized 742 grams of fentanyl, an amount sufficient to kill thousands of Floridians.
Moody said she has “no doubt” that the operation “saved lives.”
The investigation targeted a group led by Hector Torres, Miguel Castro-Rivera, and Luis Delgado, who allegedly distributed fentanyl across Polk and Osceola counties. It was revealed through the investigation that much of their illicit trade originated from two businesses including a fish-and-bait shop and a motorcycle shop, both owned by two key members of the ring, according to Moody’s office.
Alongside the fentanyl, authorities also confiscated over 3,500 grams of cocaine, 13 grams of methamphetamine, 57 grams of oxycodone, and more than 228 grams of marijuana during the operation.
Moody’s Statewide Prosecutors are pursuing felony charges against nine defendants.
The prosecutors charged Torres, Castro-Rivera and Delgado with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charges, or RICO, a first-degree felony. All defendants, except Flores, were charged with conspiracy to RICO, a first-degree felony. Rivera, Delgado and Fuentes are additionally charged with trafficking in fentanyl, a first-degree felony. Flores is charged with sale of fentanyl, a second-degree felony.
The trafficking ring allegedly used counter surveillance tactics, including the use of surveillance cameras around homes and businesses, multiple cell phones, and frequently changed the locations for drug transactions, according to Moody’s office.
Moody’s office said the investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office revealed Torres, Castro-Rivera and Delgado, and co-conspirators Pilar Rivera, Wilma Fuentes Laureano, Norberto Otero, Jr., Luis Lopez Torres, Abel Flores, and Jeimylee Rivera were involved in the distribution of fentanyl in Polk and Osceola Counties.
The group allegedly operated by selling relatively small amounts of the lethal substance in an effort to evade law enforcement detection.
The cases that remain within a single-judicial circuit will be managed by the local state attorney’s office.
“Florida leads the nation in fentanyl seizures, and this case is yet another example of how Sheriff Grady Judd and his deputies are leaders in helping us remove deadly drugs from our streets,” Moody said.
