Winter Haven-based international drug-smuggling ring broken up, Polk sheriff says

Using what it called the "largest wiretap in Polk County history," the Polk County Sheriff's Office said it broke up an international drug smuggling ring operated out of Winter Haven, which moved  large amounts of drugs from Mexico, through Los Angeles and into the Winter Haven using checked luggage in commercial airlines.

Polk Sheriff Grady Judd told media on Friday that the investigation, which started in September 2020, resulted in the arrests of 85 suspects who are now facing a total of 355 felony charges and 93 misdemeanors. The suspects’ previous criminal histories, he said, include 690 previous felonies, 712 previous misdemeanors, and 194 felony convictions.

During the investigation, authorities also seized:

• 268 pounds of methamphetamine.

• 31 pounds of cocaine.

• 180 pounds of marijuana.

• 3.4 pounds of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy.

• 6.8 ounces of fentanyl.

• 68 alprazolam (Xanax) pills.

• 173 oxycodone pills.

• 49 firearms.

• $235,000 cash.

Sheriff's officials said the total street value of the drugs confiscated is over $12.8 million. The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests and charges are pending.

"Two milligrams of fentanyl can be a deadly overdose," Judd said. "It means that 6.8 ounces of fentanyl could have killed up to 96,000 people."

Domestic violence suspect: Man killed by Lake Wales police after fatally shooting K-9

'He's dead now': Winter Haven man told 911 dispatcher he shot his father, PCSO says

Officer shot: Haines City Police officer recovering after being shot during a traffic stop Sunday

The investigation began in September 2020, officials said, when detectives executed a search warrant in Winter Haven and seized a pound of methamphetamine. Over the course of the next year and a half, detectives made undercover narcotics purchases in the Winter Haven area and learned that drugs were being smuggled from California to Orlando via checked luggage on flights.

"On one occasion, on one airline, six suitcases with this drug were smuggled into Orlando," Judd said. "They didn't so much as throw a pair of underwear in the suitcase to act like they were hiding the drugs. You think LAX has got a drug smuggling problem at the airport?"

In February 2022, detectives received a court order for a wiretap and began monitoring suspects, officials said.

Within minutes of the wiretap starting, Judd said detectives heard chatter about an unsolved homicide that the Winter Haven Police Department is investigating.

The wiretap led to 14 search warrants in Auburndale, Davenport, Polk City, Lake Wales, Winter Haven and Riverview, as well as in Fresno, California.

Among the 85 suspects arrested, Judd singled out six that he called "ringleaders."

• Demarcus Terrell Jefferson, 32: Sheriff's officials say detectives heard Jefferson and other family members were smuggling drugs on flights and made several undercover drug purchases at his home at 2073 9th Lane NE in Winter Haven. During the investigation, Judd said, detectives learned that one of his brothers died of an overdose of fentanyl and Xanax at the same house. On Sept. 13, 2020, Judd said Jefferson crashed his car into a Marathon gas station on Havendale Boulevard in Winter Haven while impaird, killing a male customer inside. "But what did he have with him when he drove into the front of this store while impaired? He had drugs," Judd said. "Because he made phone calls, and we have videos from the store of people running up with masks on going into the trunk and taking items out of the trunk before law enforcement arrived."  The Sheriff's Office said he is charged with DUI manslaughter in that incident and his criminal case is pending.

• Dwayne Kenneth Stackhouse Sr., 39: Judd said Stackhouse was identified as a large scale cocaine supplier in Central Florida. On April 20, detectives conducted a traffic stop on U.S. 27 in Davenport as Stackhouse was traveling from Orlando. They seized one kilogram of cocaine that was concealed inside a leather zippered Bible case, officials said. Detectives also searched his residence at 160 Serenity Blvd. Apt #202 in Lake Wales, where they found another pound of cocaine, marijuana, $13,000 cash, and a firearm, they said. Sheriff's officials said they arrested his partner, Vicente Carranza-Basanta, the same day. Stackhouse was released from jail on May 31, after posting bond in the amount of $116,250, and a GPS ankle monitor was placed on him.

• Abadosh McKenzie, 41: The Sheriff's Office said McKenzie was identified as a counterfeit fentanyl pill supplier, as well as a supplier of methamphetamine, MDMA, and marijuana. He lives in Riverview, but undercover detectives purchased drugs from him in Winter Haven, officials said.

• Lenard Henderson, 42: Judd said Henderson was a large-scale cocaine supplier and a "ringleader." Sheriff's officials said several suspects who were arrested obtained their narcotics from Henderson. He was arrested Tuesday, and charged with 25 counts conspiracy to sell cocaine, conspiracy to sell marijuana, conspiracy to purchase marijuana, and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony. He was released from jail after posting $24,500 bond.

• Javarius Samuel, 31: Sheriff's officials said that on Aug. 5, detectives in Fresno served a search warrant on Samuel's residence and seized 68 pounds of marijuana, 109 grams of fentanyl, 14 grams of cocaine, three firearms, and $45,000 cash. The same day, detectives conducted a traffic stop and arrested Samuel on his two active warrants in Florida. Judd said Samuel was using a forged Georgia driver’s license to evade law enforcement and travel between Florida and California. Officials said they served a search warrant at his Davenport address, 928 Brooklet Drive, and seized two loaded AK-47 pistols, which were out in plain view and in a home with six children. He was arrested and charged with conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl, conspiracy to traffic in heroin, conspiracy to sell marijuana, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a fictitious driver’s license, felony battery, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, and three counts of probation violation. He is being held without bond.

• Darmonte Munson, 30: Sheriff's officials said a piece of luggage that was intercepted was slated for Munson’s residence at 514 Lake Dexter Blvd. in Winter Haven. On Tuesday, detectives searched another one of his residences, 2245 5th St. NE in Winter Haven, and found large amounts of illegal narcotics, along with scales and paraphernalia, and two firearms — a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm handgun. He was charged with multiple drug-trafficking charges and was released Thursday on $119,500 bond. "He was the one who really put together the trips from LAX to Florida," Judd said. "But here's the neat thing about Darmonte: He would go through the community, he provide fireworks on the holidays, he would have Christmas gift giveaways, he would provide Easter egg hunts. You see, he was the good guy in the community, made the money, shared it with the kids. You know he was grooming himself as a community charitable contributor for the kids."

Judd said the investigation is ongoing and there were suspects the Sheriff's Office was still looking for.

“I’m so very proud of our detectives and the agents and law enforcement officers who partnered with us to get these dangerous drugs and felons off the street," Judd said in a written statement. "This is the single largest seizure of drugs and arrests made in the history of Polk County during an undercover wiretap investigation. We will continue to follow up leads and make more arrests, so those who think they got away from us – think again.”

Judd said the the operation involved multiple agencies across the state and nation, including the Winter Haven Police Department, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, the Orlando Police Department, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, the Fresno, California, Police Department, the Shelby County, Tennessee, Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, among others.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk sheriff says multi-agency effort busts Winter Haven-based drug ring