WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Three people are now behind bars after a total of 10 kilograms of fentanyl, strong enough to kill millions of people, was seized by the Polk County Sheriff's Office during a multi-agency investigation.
During a news conference Tuesday morning, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained the deadly drug was initially brought illegally into the U.S. from Sinaloa, Mexico.
After making its way to Compton, California, the fentanyl reportedly traveled to Riverview and then into Polk County.
"This was the single largest investigation and seizure of fentanyl in the history of Polk County," Judd explained.
The investigation began when an undercover reportedly deputy met with 56-year-old Juan Manuel Gutierrez Medina on Sept. 14 in Bartow to buy a kilo of cocaine. Two days later, 55-year-old Ruperto Rocha showed up with three more kilos, Judd said.
After receiving the drugs and learning more information about where they were coming from, law enforcement kept their eyes on the men who were traveling across the U.S.
Judd explains while Medina took a trip to Compton to pick up more drugs, the sheriff's office had a warrant out for his arrest.
After allegedly not receiving help from authorities out in California, the sheriff explains Medina was arrested on Oct. 18 when he returned to Florida.
It wasn't shortly after the arrest, just two days later, that 25-year-old Juan Manuel Contreras Gutierrez brought the undercover deputy six more kilos of drugs in Hillsborough County, Judd said.
The street value of the 10 kilos of fentanyl is approximately $2.5 million, the agency explains.
On Oct. 25, Gutierrez was arrested with the help of Hillsborough County deputies and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
According to Judd, a total of five million people can be killed with the 10 kilos seized by the agency. It reportedly only takes two milligrams of the drug to spark an overdose, which is much smaller than a penny.
"When you understand that the drug dealers don't give a red sin about your life, they're there to make money, you understand how dangerous this is," the sheriff said.
According to the agency, both Medina and Gutierrez, who are father and son, were in the U.S. illegally from Mexico. They are both now under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holds, Judd said.
All three men arrested, who have previous criminal records, are facing charges of trafficking fentanyl over 28 grams.
"This is such a significant case, this could have harmed so many people in Florida," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said during the news conference. "This is a major victory, not just for this county but for our state."
Watch the full news conference below.