Indian River County: Year-long drug trafficking investigation ends in mega drug bust
On November 23, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit concluded a year-long drug trafficking investigation deemed “Operation Synthetic Shutdown”.
Operation Synthetic Shutdown was initiated when detectives observed a large influx of the drug Eutylone, known by the street term “Molly”, in Indian River County. Eutylone emerged in the U.S. illicit drug market in 2019 and was then labeled as “South Florida’s Newest Emerging Substance”.
Eutylone is a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance and falls into the drug class of synthetic cathinones. It can retain both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties and is often prepared and distributed in powder, capsule, pressed tablet, or rock form. Nationwide and in Indian River County, Eutylone and other synthetic cathinones have been linked to cardiac effects resulting in death.
Over the past year, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office working side by side with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and with the assistance from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Sebastian Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), have spent countless hours identifying and dismantling the drug trafficking organization that was distributing the Eutylone into the community, as well as several other controlled substances, to include but not limited to cocaine, MDMA (Ecstasy), marijuana, and prescription pills.
Several sources of the narcotics were identified as coming from other areas in Florida as well as areas outside of the state.
Throughout the course of Operation Synthetic Shutdown, 36 suspects were identified and charged with selling, distributing and trafficking large quantities of Euytlone, along with the other controlled substances noted. Some of the suspects involved were also identified as the drug dealers responsible for near fatal and/or fatal overdoses of Eutylone within Indian River County.
Numerous undercover operations were conducted with these suspects involved with the organization over the past year. The organizational chart below identifies the suspects, the hierarchical structure, and the charges each suspect is facing. More arrests are anticipated as evidence is processed.
During the operation, 10 search warrants were executed at residences that were identified as locations where the suspects were living and where the Eutylone and other narcotics were being stored. Over three kilograms of Eutylone, nearly half of a kilogram of cocaine and approximately 1000 Ecstasy pills were purchased and seized during Operation Synthetic Shutdown, along with nearly $50,000 in cash seized from these narcotic sales.
A total of 11 firearms were also seized from this drug trafficking organization, all of which were in possession of convicted felons. The firearms varied from AK47s to handguns, some of which were reported as stolen. A 2017 Volkswagen Passat, a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, a 2006 Hyundai Sonata, a 2013 Ford F150, a 2018 Chevy Camaro, a 2019 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a 2015 Chevrolet Impala were all being utilized to transport the narcotics during the investigation and were also seized as a result.
The Special Investigations Unit has already received information from the streets that Operation Synthetic Shutdown has caused a drought in “Molly” within Indian River County and surrounding areas. The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office would like to send out a special thanks to the outside agencies that assisted and helped make Operation Synthetic Shutdown a great success.
(Source: Indian River County Sheriff’s Office)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
