COCOA, Fla. – A six-month Brevard County investigation resulted in the seizure of 3 pounds of lethal fentanyl, 75 firearms, the arrests of 60 people and more than 100 warrants for arrest, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday.
Ivey said the drug operation was the largest in Brevard County's history, spanned across the county and has far-reaching implications in other states.
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“These are the faces of your next-door neighbor," Ivey said, standing in front of two posters with more than 100 faces of suspects. “These are the faces of people selling poison.”
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office seized kilos of fentanyl and heroin and $100,000 in cash. Ivey said they confiscated enough opioids for 500,000 lethal doses.
"That is enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Brevard County," Ivey said.
The Sheriff's Office identified the leaders of the drug trafficking effort as Brandon Huff, 35, Jonathan Walker, 42, both of Cocoa, and Megan Wilborn, 31, of Merritt Island.
Their charges include conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and heroin, conspiracy to sell heroin and meth and trafficking fentanyl. They also face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
All three suspects are in the Brevard County Jail. Huff's bail is set at $2.5 million. Wilborn and Walker both carry bonds of $910,000.
DeSantis said the operation is part of Florida's efforts to prevent, treat and help people recover from the opioid crisis happening in Florida and across the country.
"Right now, as the budget lands in Tallahassee, we have about $100 million" to fight the epidemic, the governor said, in addition to the $26 million in federal funding for Florida’s State Opioid Response Project.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said opioids are killing 17 people a day in Florida and the numbers show "drastic action" is needed. In April, Moody was appointed the chair of Florida’s Task Force on Opioid Drug Abuse.
"We are not playing around," Moody said. "We lose 17 people a day."
Moody said the fight is not only with law enforcement in the streets, but in court against drug companies that know the drugs are dangerous and addictive.