Major suppliers, dealers nabbed in Lake County drug bust – News – Daily Commercial

TAVARES — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced a large-scale drug bust Friday after a two-day roundup resulting in 47 arrests, with 23 others still to come.

Those arrested included people accused of being mid- and high-level suppliers and street-level drug dealers, Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said. He said the network of suppliers and dealers traded in methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana.

Notable arrests included Jy’kez Jackson, 19, who is accused of trafficking meth, heroin and fentanyl in south Lake County; Alphonsa Williams, 29, who allegedly operated out of Wildwood; Valentino Knowles, 30, charged with trafficking cocaine in Leesburg; and Omar Aviles-Lopez, 43, and Julio Gonzales-Pabon, 25, two Osceola residents accused of supplying cocaine to Knowles.

The network was uncovered over the course of two operations called Operation CELL Block, standing for Clermont, Eustis, Leesburg and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and Operation Pull the Plug, referring to a street name for drug dealers. Grinnell said these operations and others over the year targeted dealers because addicts are not typically the villains in drug rings.

“These pushers of poison, they know what they’re doing,” he said. “You can’t negotiate with them, and that’s why we go after (them).”

Each operation lasted around six months and involved multiple law enforcement agencies targeting a drug trafficking operation within Lake County as well as neighboring counties such as Citrus and Sumter.

Grinnell added that it’s the seventh large-scale operation the county has conducted since announcing a hardline stance on drugs in a viral online video in 2017.

The charges resulting from the investigations include trafficking of drugs, sale of drugs and solicitation to purchase them.

Along with their two-day roundup, detectives served six search warrants, seized five vehicles, confiscated more than $10,000 and seized thousands of dollars worth of drugs.

Many of those arrested have “extensive” criminal histories, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. John Herrell pointed out that one man, Joseph Kramer, 28, was out of jail on bond for armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Sheriff’s SWAT teams raided another suspect’s house four times over the years, Grinnell said.

Herrell added that another man, Cliff Johnson, 37, is out on bond for a murder charge. He was not found in the initial roundup, but Grinnell said warrant investigators were actively seeking him and 22 others.

Grinnell noted noted that since beginning the crackdown operations, which have resulted in 371 arrests since late 2017, drug overdoses in the county have started to slow. He said informants have reported to deputies that more and more dealers and suppliers are hesitant to move either heroin or fentanyl due to the string of arrests.

He added that he’s proud of the investigators for taking out a large chunk of central Florida’s drug supply network in the arrest. He said he wasn’t sure how big the blow was, but undercover agents informed him it was significant.

“Did we get them all? No,” he said. “But we will.”

Grinnell said that after this, undercover agents will take some time to rest with their families before rejoining the team and preparing for new operations.