POLK COUNTY, Fla. — "It's about drugs and dope," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said as he detailed how multi-agency drug trafficking investigations took "kilos of destructive drugs" off the streets in recent months.
According to the sheriff's office, a total of 14 kilos of cocaine and 3 1/2 kilos of bulk fentanyl and fentanyl pills were seized during the undercover operations. Four guns, a vehicle and $12,985 in cash were also seized. Between the two Central Florida drug trafficking organizations the sheriff's office took down, 10 men and 1 woman were arrested.
Judd said the office's Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force detectives worked with multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to orchestrate these busts. The HIDTA task force's investigation started back in August, Judd said.
After undercover detectives made contact with 56-year-old Pedro "Bemba" Romero of Kissimmee, they arranged to buy a kilo of cocaine from him. In November, detectives set the drug buy in Haines City. When Romero arrived at the exchange, detectives said he brought his drug supplier, 44-year-old Maximo Espinosa of Kissimmee, with him.
The sheriff's office said they learned Espinosa operated a drug trafficking organization that worked between the northeast U.S., South Florida, Puerto Rico and Mexico bringing in "kilo amounts" of cocaine and fentanyl.
Both Romero and Espinosa have extensive criminal records, including federal charges, the sheriff's office said.
Additional meetings between undercover detectives and Espinosa took place in December. Then, on Jan. 2, an undercover detective met with Espinosa who reportedly showed the detective 10 kilos of cocaine and two kilos of fentanyl in the truck of his car.
Espinosa was arrested, along with several others believed to be involved. Romero was later arrested as well. Espinosa was later taken into federal custody as part of a separate investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) where he faces drug trafficking charges.
Judd was joined by U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Assistant Commissioner Lee Massie.
In December and the beginning of January, the multi-agency investigations targeted two Central Florida-based drug trafficking organizations, coming away with multiple kilos of fentanyl and cocaine, the agency said in a release. Additionally, the investigations resulted in 11 people being arrested.
"I’m proud of our detectives and partner agencies who worked hard to remove 17 ½ kilos of destructive drugs off the streets," Judd said in a statement. "We are all working together to fight fentanyl, which is killing people by the thousands in the US as a result of drug overdoses. These drug traffickers are destroying lives, families and communities. These drugs go hand-in-hand with violence and misery in our communities."
Watch the full news conference below or by clicking here: