-from floridatoday.com-

By Susanne Cervenka

TITUSVILLE - Authorities broke up an alleged prescription drug ring Tuesday that officials described as one of the largest and most sophisticated ever seen in Central Florida.

Eleven people were arrested in connection with the trafficking of oxycodone, a prescription narcotic legitimately taken for pain relief but often abused as a recreational drug.

Detectives said they linked nearly 65,000 tablets to the ring, an amount that weighs 64 pounds and has a street value of just under $1 million.

The ring started its operations out of Brevard County but expanded to include five other counties, police said.

“They were moving so much product, they ran it like a business,” Titusville Police Sgt. Matt Demmon said.

Ten men and women from Titusville, Mims and Port St. John were charged with conspiracy to traffic oxycodone. Because of the amount of drugs they were accused of selling, most face a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. Another Mims man faces a conspiracy to purchase oxycodone charge.

Titusville police detectives identified Dione Lylo, 36, as the alleged leader of the ring. Lylo has a business license for Exceptional Management Concepts LLC, and some of suspected ring members claimed to be employees, but detectives found no evidence that the company had any customers, said Detective Carolina Johnson, a Titusville police officer assigned to the DEA Task Force.

The operation apparently operated out of an unmarked office space on Garden Street and billed itself as a consulting firm that helped companies find new employees.

Johnson said the ring used a legitimate prescription as a model to design fake prescription forms using computer software. The fake form was printed onto prescription paper purchased on the Internet.

Members of the group then would write out a prescription and forge doctors’ signatures, Johnson said.

But instead of listing the phone number of the doctor’s office on the form for pharmacists to check, the fake prescriptions included numbers to pre-paid cellular phones, police said.

When pharmacies called to question the prescriptions, ring members allegedly would answer the phone as the doctors’ offices and confirm the person was a patient.

Sometimes members would say they needed to “check their charts” and call back later, Johnson said.

Prescriptions were filled first in Brevard County, but the group later spread to Orange, Volusia, Seminole, Alachua and Osceola counties.

In all, the group used eight doctors names and frequented more than 50 different pharmacy locations, often seeking out “Mom and Pop” stores that wouldn’t have linking computers systems, according to Johnson and Titusville Detective Shaun Anderson.

During the height of activity, members were going to two pharmacies a day to fill prescriptions for 120 to 150 tablets, Anderson said.

Legitimate prescriptions are usually for about 30 tablets, however that number can vary depending on the doctor and the severity of the patient’s ailment, he said.

Titusville Police began the six-month investigation after receiving complaints from two local doctors, and soon after began working with Brevard County Sheriff’s office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution in Orlando.

“You couldn’t ask for better cooperation,” Demmon said.

-from theledger.com-

An investigation by a multi-county drug enforcement task force has led to the arrest of four people in Ocala on drug trafficking charges, and the seizure of more than 36 kilograms of cocaine and more than $700,000 in cash.

Four more individuals, all from California, were arrested in Sumter County last week, and charged in connection with the same trafficking ring.
Capt. Lee Sullivan of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office called the bust “probably the second-biggest one this year,” he said.

-from wifr.com-

Chicago Police seized a million dollars in drugs in a bust on the northwest side this weekend.

At a news conference Sunday (10-21), Lt. Eric Carter showed off the cache, including seven kilos of cocaine, more than 43 pounds of cannabis, 378,000 dollars in cash and handguns.

The bust was part of an on-going investigation conducted by the department’s narcotics and gang investigation section (NAGIS).

Undercover teams had 25 year-old Oswaldo Sanchez under surveillance. Carter says they noticed suspicious activity with his cars. Police K-9s sniffed the cars and that led to the find in his home.

Sanchez has been charged with drug possession and five separate counts f weapons charges.

The cash, drugs, scales and guns were concealed in closets and in the kitchen.

-from mtairynews.com-

DOBSON - Three people have been charged with felony drug violations involving opium as the result of a search at a local residence.

Members of the Surry County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant last week on Cedar Gate Lane, located in the Oak Grove community west of Mount Airy. The search resulted from information gathered during an investigation that stemmed from citizen complaints about drug activity in the area, according to the sheriff’s office.

An undercover buy allegedly was made from one of the home’s occupants and further investigation established probable cause for the search, authorities said.

At the residence, officers recovered 90 Methadone diskettes, which they described as 40-milligram water-soluble tablets. Methadone is a synthetic opioid said to produce the same effects as morphine or heroin.

Three residents of 185 Cedar Gate Lane, Mount Airy, subsequently were charged with conspiracy to traffic opium, including Arthur Matthew Gray, 47; Tesha Nicole Tate, 27; and David Mitchell Browning Tate, 24.

Gray additionally was charged with trafficking opium by possession and maintaining a drug dwelling. Tesha Nicole Tate, who allegedly made the undercover sale, is further charged with four counts of trafficking in opium, and David Mitchell Browning Tate also is accused of resisting a public officer in connection with the raid.

A $100,000 bond was set for each defendant, who are facing a Nov. 11 court appearance.

-from torontosun.com-

By Rob Lambarti and Jonathan Jenkins

A drug bust at an Etobicoke home yesterday turned up a marijuana grow-op and an outlaw biker repeatedly turfed from the country.

Police sources say cops raided a home on Kenhill Dr. yesterday and found a small grow-op, along with a revolver and a sawed-off shotgun.

Two men and three women were taken into custody.

Among those arrested was Jose Fernandes, 46, who has been deported four times to his native Italy.

As officers searched the house, Fernandes showed up and was promptly arrested, the source said.

Last deported in 2001, Fernandes has a long history as a biker with the Loners gang but more recently has been connected to the Messina chapter of the Bandidos gang.

In 1992 he was found firing an Uzi machine pistol into the air on Bergamot Cr. in Etobicoke and was sentenced to 21/2 years in jail.

Also arrested yesterday were Fernandes’ sons Duran, 27, and Justin, 19, along with Rachel Breen, 30, Margaret Fernandes, 50, and Rebecca Sooley, 73.

-from buffalonews.com-

By Stephen T. Watson

Investigators on Saturday seized drugs, weapons and cash during a raid that targeted a major area drug supplier, city officials announced.

Four people were arrested at a West Side residence following a five-month probe by the Buffalo Police Narcotics Unit and the state attorney general’s office.

“Today is a bad day for the drug dealers but a good day for the residents of the West Side and the entire City of Buffalo,” Mayor Byron W. Brown said during a news conference in Buffalo Police Headquarters.

Buffalo Police narcotics investigators and a member of the attorney general’s Organized Crime Task Force spent months investigating drug dealing on the West Side.

Police said Elliott Fuentes, known on the street as “the Godfather,” and Reinaldo Torres, who is Fuentes’ father-in-law, are major suppliers to lower-level drug dealers.

“[Fuentes] has come up in many investigations and we have been unable, until today, to make a dent in his operations,” Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson said.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, narcotics investigators executed several search warrants at a residence in the 500 block of Plymouth Avenue.

Fuentes, who is 34; Torres, 53; Enrique Quiaras, 23; and Sandra Martinez, 55; all of whom live at the Plymouth Avenue address, were arrested.

Each is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of drug paraphernalia and criminal possession of a weapon.

The raid turned up one kilogram of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100,000, seven ounces of heroin with a value of $50,000, $60,000 in cash, two handguns and one shotgun and six vehicles — all seized by police.

The investigators from the Narcotics Unit were: Lt. Thomas Lyon, Sgt. Thomas Vivian and Detectives Thomas Doctor, Edward Niemann, Johnnie Walker, Kevin Maloney, Joseph Cook and Sharon Acker. Investigator Michael McParlane from the Organized Crime Task Force assisted.

“The more collaborative efforts you have that are successful, the more inroads you make in combating this problem,” Steven M. Cohen, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s chief of staff, said prior to the news conference.

-from thestar.com-

By Amy Fuller, Joanna Smith, Josh Wingrove

An ecstasy lab was found yesterday in the garage of the same house where Toronto police discovered a marijuana grow-up last year.

Officers seized about 2 million units of ecstasy from what they said was a pill-pressing lab on Pipers Green Ave., in the Brimley Rd. and Finch Ave. E. area.

“This is the end of the production line,” said Insp. Rick Penney, the officer in charge of operations for the RCMP’s GTA drug squad. “The next step is in the mouth.”

Penney would not say how much the pills were worth but since the drugs can sell for $20 a unit, the seizure could be worth up to $40 million on the street.

The driveway was lined with cardboard boxes and plastic bags filled with ecstasy tablets and powder while officers dressed in white suits sorted through the garage.

RCMP Supt. Ron Allen said officers raided the premises following a bust in a van they stopped Friday night in an ongoing investigation. Three men were arrested.

Soon after pulling over the van, investigators surrounded the home. Officers entered with a warrant around noon yesterday, where they found the large ecstasy lab and two more men were arrested.

The ecstasy was likely headed for the United States, Allen said.

“It wasn’t something that we happened to dance across. It was an ongoing investigation,” said Allen, head of the Toronto drug section.

While stopping short of confirming it as the largest drug bust in Toronto history, Sgt. Brent Hill, commander of the RCMP chemical diversion unit, said last night: “It’s on the top shelf of large drug busts.”

RCMP clandestine laboratory team investigators are sorting through the volatile contents of the house this weekend, under supervision from Health Canada officials. One nearby house has been evacuated as a precaution, said Penney, who is leading the on-site investigation.

The house was busted for a marijuana grow-up in May 2006.

“The pots from the grow-op are still on the side of the house,” Penney said at the scene.

The house still belongs to the person who owned it during the previous bust, but it was being rented out and police said they have no indication the owner is involved at this point.

Neighbours reported seeing people going in and out of the house but said no family lived there.

Tracey Wilson was watching the action from behind yellow police tape down the street, where she was out walking her dog last night.

She remembers being surprised by last year’s drug bust, so she felt very “strange” this time around.

“It’s very nice here. You’d never know this was going to happen.”

Hill said drug labs threaten public safety. “Precursor chemicals (those used to make drugs such as ecstasy) are flammable and toxic. Drug traffickers don’t want to go to jail, so they don’t properly ventilate. There are tragic consequences if these places catch on fire or blow up. It’s a huge public safety problem.”

Toronto residents Yan Shi, 31, Wei Qion Ma, 29, Yao Quan Jian, 20, and Shu Qiang Wu, 37, face drug charges. New York resident Wan Shan Ling, 50, was also charged.

-from new.wset.com-

Reporter: Manuel Quinones

Posted By: Amy Hultstrand

Bedford Co., VA - Residents of Liberty Apartments in Bedford County are shocked at a big drug bust there. Sheriff Mike Brown calls the complex a “widely known drug rendezvous point.” And it’s just a few feet away from Liberty High school.

Thursday night, an overwhelming force of officers from five different jurisdictions attacked the problem. They arrested 14 people at the apartment complex and 10 more in Bedford and Pittsylvania Counties. Residents Liberty Apartments told us everyone has to move out because of renovations. Sheriff brown says that led them to speed up the investigation.