ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Twenty-one people have been arrested in connection to a "major" drug investigation in St. Petersburg, Chief Anthony Holloway said during a news conference.
In February 2021, the chief reportedly met with the major case unit along with the strategic operation division to discuss and start an investigation into the violence happening in St. Pete.
During this investigation, detectives from the St. Petersburg Police Department were able to go undercover and find a group of people working out of the Childs Park neighborhood who were responsible for narcotic sales and drug distribution throughout the city, the chief explained.
Holloway says the narcotics being sold were not "not the typical street-level" drugs.
"This group was distributing pounds of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl throughout [the] city," he said.
Holloway explained how a fentanyl dealer would use "guinea pigs" to test their mixtures before distributing the drugs out.
"They would call somewhere between 10-15 addicts and have them test if the fentanyl to see how strong it was," the chief said.
Detectives were able to execute four search warrants Monday morning, Holloway said. During the searches, they found 127 pounds of marijuana, eight pounds of powder cocaine, a little more than half a pound of fentanyl and seven guns. One of the guns was stolen.
Police also were able to seize five vehicles, along with jewelry that was estimated to be worth $150,000 and cash adding up to $73,000.
This group reportedly sold 80-100 pounds of marijuana weekly, the chief explained. The estimated value of the sales is somewhere between $80,000 to $120,000, which doesn't include the other drugs they were selling.
Other charges related to the drug charges include attempted murder, shooting from a vehicle, conspiracy to commit robbery, felony possession of a firearm, armed trafficking of fentanyl, trafficking of heroin, cocaine and marijuana along with "several other charges," Holloway said.
Even after arresting 21 people in connection to this crime, the chief said they are not done investigating yet.
"This was not about a small amount of marijuana being sold in our city, this operation was about making sure we stop the violent crime in our city," he said.
"Any individual or group [who] thinks they're going to replace this group — think twice about it. Because I can tell you this. We may not catch you today...or tomorrow, but we're gonna catch you just like we caught this group."
