TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the arrest of 25 people and the seizure of hundreds of pounds of drug-making material after a joint operation involving the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Tampa Police, and Clearwater Police.
The departments used grants from the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (SAFE) to fund the operation.
“Taking into account just the fentanyl that was seized as a result of these arrests, it would have been enough to kill the entire population of my hometown, Plant City,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
Police found some of the fentanyl in fake Adderall pills and said the dealers use the same pill press for all kinds of drugs.
”They are so careless and reckless that co-mingling could be deadly to some child who is at a party and their buddy says, hey take this Adderall,” Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy said.
Nathan Cantie, a recovering addict, said while it’s great to see drugs taken off the streets, keeping people from ever wanting to buy them is what he’s focused on.
“Our responsibility as people in the recovery community and within this organization is to stop them from the behaviors that are going to lead them back to the fentanyl, to the drugs, that will ultimately maybe lead to their demise,” said Cantie.
Moody said Florida leads the way in seizing fentanyl, but there is still a rise in overdose deaths caused by the drug in the Bay Area.
For those looking for help, the state of Florida recommends this site: treatmentatlas.org
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
