DELAND, Fla. — After a year-long investigation, members of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and Volusia Bureau of Investigation dismantled a drug trafficking organization they say is responsible for distributing heroin, fentanyl and cocaine on the streets of Volusia County and beyond.
- Investigators seized fentanyl, cash, vehicles and firearms
- Ringleaders, 6 others arrested
- Chitwood hopes to pin federal charges on the suspects
The ringleaders and several other members were arrested, with additional arrests expected in the future.
Among the items seized in Volusia County Thursday were significant amounts of fentanyl, at least a quarter million dollars in cash, luxury vehicles and 20 firearms.
The investigation, which started in 2018 and was dubbed “Operation Smooth Criminal,” resulted in arrest warrants for more than 20 individuals on trafficking charges, including the alleged ringleaders, Marcel “MJ” Green of Daytona Beach and Robert Hamilton Jr. of Ormond Beach.
Those two men and six other local suspects were arrested during a series of raids Thursday morning. Arrest warrants are active for 14 more suspects.
“This time, these guys are going to big boy jail, they're going to federal prison," said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. "It's a little bit different when they go to federal prison so we are going to see what comes out of this."
Chitwood noted that Volusia County averages about 1,000 overdoses a year and has had about 300 overdose deaths in the last two years. He believes that some of the suspects arrested can be connected to those deaths and federally charged.
“I hope this is just a spring flood that turns into a major, major flood of intel and maybe we can solve some homicides, cold case homicides out of this," said Chitwood.
The sheriff also hopes this greatly reduces the amount of drugs and violent crimes on Volusia County streets.
“If you come into this county and you insist on dealing this poison and destroying families, the whole force, the whole force of the criminal justice system is going to fall on top of you," said SChitwood. "Federal, state and local, and we are not going to rest, we’re not going to rest. And if you want to spend the rest of your life behind bars, have at it."