Martin County Sheriff’s Deputies Seize 10,000 Fentanyl Pills in Drug Bust

The scary thing about fentanyl is that even a tiny amount can kill, and even scarier than that is that many victims of fentanyl overdose were not even aware that the drugs they were consuming contained fentanyl.  Instead, the victims though that the white powder they purchased on the street was cocaine or methamphetamine, or that their street-sourced weed was just plain cannabis instead of cannabis sprinkled with fentanyl; some of them overdosed on fentanyl by taking pills that they bought online, which were advertised as oxycodone or Adderall.  In other words, some fentanyl overdose victims did not even intentionally consume opioids of any strength, much less an opioid 100 times as strong as fentanyl.  Of course, fentanyl is still plenty scary when it is forthcoming about its identity.  The number of drug overdose deaths in Florida is slowly decreasing from its peak several years ago, but the 2.5 pounds of fentanyl the Martin County Sheriff’s deputies seized in the final weeks of 2023 could have done plenty of damage.  If you are facing criminal charges related to fentanyl, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.

Three Men From New York Arrested After Communicating With Informants Wearing Recording Device

With only a few days remaining in 2023, a 2.5-pound shipment of fentanyl made it most of the way down I-95.  Three men from the Bronx, namely Jeffry Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ortiz, Carlos Almonte-Melo, and Yelson Alvarez-Ortiz, drove to Stuart, where they planned to hand the stash of drugs to co-conspirators, who agreed to pay them $38,000 upfront, although the street value of the stash, which included $10,000 pills, was $300,000.  Of course, the contacts in Florida with whom the men from the Bronx were communicating were confidential informants who were wearing recording devices.

After listening to recorded conversations between the men from the Bronx and the informants, Martin County Sheriff’s deputies went to the Walmart where the informants had agreed to receive the drugs.  The deputies arrested all three men who had arrived from New York and seized the drugs.  The pills were pressed to look like the commercially produced oxycodone pills that doctors prescribe.

All three defendants were taken to the Martin County jail.  Each defendant’s bail was set at $200,000.  If convicted, each of them could face a prison sentence of up to 25 years.  As for the informants, news sources did not give any information about how they came to take on that role, but agreeing to act as a confidential informant is often part of a plea deal to reduce drug trafficking charges to a lesser offense, such as simple possession.  Some confidential informants in drug cases even get complete immunity from prosecution.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing drug charges after a confidential informant recorded communications with you that were allegedly related to drug crimes.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Sources:

wpbf.com/article/martin-county-sheriffs-office-makes-largest-fentanyl-seizure-countys-history-florida-jeffry-yelson-ortiz-carlos-melo/46245713

drugabusestatistics.org/drug-overdose-deaths/#florida