Today, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office released the results of Operation Spring Cleaning, a strategic initiative conducted in 27 Florida counties that focused on the investigation and subsequent arrest of those manufacturing, delivering or trafficking controlled substances. During this operation, here in Nassau County, we took 57 drug traffickers off the streets, confiscated 280 grams of controlled substances, and seized 5 of firearms during the Task Force Operation Spring Cleaning.
“The widespread use of controlled substances devastates our county,” said Sheriff Bill Leeper. “Enforcing controlled substance laws is a top priority in order to keep families and communities safe.”
Florida’s medical examiners reported 704 people died of Fentanyl-related overdoses in the first half of 2016 which led to the passing of enhanced penalties for drug dealers and traffickers as seen in Florida House Bill 477 in 2017. Since many dealers sell various types of drugs, Operation Spring Cleaning focused on capturing sales and trafficking related to highly abused controlled substances. The following are the specific totals numbers for Nassau County:
- 57 persons arrested for trafficking in controlled substances
- 280 grams of controlled substances confiscated
- 5 firearms seized
- 1 arrests for unlawful possession of a firearm when arrested for trafficking/sale and delivery
- 29 arrests for outstanding warrants when person was arrested for trafficking/sale and delivery
Operation Spring Cleaning contributes to two of the FSA business operations goals: to foster effective law enforcement and crime prevention and to promote the activities of Sheriffs. The results of this task force operation have led to many successful closed investigations of drug trafficking in the state of Florida.
