CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — The Citrus County Sheriff's Office wrapped up an investigation that led to the arrest of three people and multiple kilos of cocaine being seized, the agency announced Thursday.
Felix Bernard, 38, Angel Alberto Ways, 28, and Jennifer Lozada, 32, were each arrested in Lecanto, the sheriff's office said.
The arrests of the three individuals come after the Citrus County Sheriff's Office SWAT team and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office SWAT team served a search warrant at two residences on South Kensington Avenue in Lecanto.
"Those two addresses are both located on the same five-acre tract, where both homes were being utilized to traffic large quantities of cocaine," the sheriff's office said.
Authorities said they were able to identify the homes after conducting a traffic stop when Ways was found in possession of cocaine.
During the six-monthlong investigation, Citrus County Sheriff's Office learned that packages of cocaine were "being mailed to multiple addresses within Citrus County, then picked up and delivered to the Kensington addresses." Multiple kilos of the drug were seized by Citrus County Sheriff's Tactical Impact Unit which led to the search warrant, the sheriff's office says.
"Over a million dollars worth of cocaine has been taken off the streets as a result of this investigation," Sheriff Mike Prendergast said in a statement. "I cannot imagine the countless lives investigations such as this have saved."
Citrus County Sheriff's Office said over kilograms of cocaine (6.6 lbs), $7,951, six firearms, scales, narcotic ledgers, packaging materials and a money calculator were found during the search warrant.
Throughout the entire investigation, a total of 8.98 kilos of cocaine was seized. That's a street value of $1,077,735, the sheriff's office said.
Bernard is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond is set at $11,000.
Ways is charged with trafficking cocaine, carrying a firearm during the commission of a felony, carrying a concealed firearm, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting without violence. His bond is set at $117,000.
Lozada is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell (cocaine), conspiracy to traffic cocaine, resisting without violence and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond is set at $12,000.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information about the illegal sale of narcotics or any other crime in our community, to contact them at 352-249-2790 or by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-888-ANY-TIPS to remain anonymous.
