4 arrested on drug charges after police raid home near middle school in Miami Springs

City of Miami police SWAT members executed a search warrant at a Miami Springs home earlier this week and arrested four people on charges including possession of heroin, methamphetamine and LSD.

On Monday during a search of a two-bedroom home in the 600 block of Mokena Drive, cops found “approximately 11 used hypodermic syringes with blood and narcotics residue” near a child’s bunk bed and toys, police said, adding that “some of these syringes were uncapped with the needles exposed.”

“The Miami Police SWAT team was called because there was information that one of the individuals inside the residence was possibly armed,” Miami Springs Police Chief Armando Guzman said. “We coordinated with off-duty police at AEI charter school and Miami-Dade public school’s police at Miami Springs middle school prior to serving the search warrant due to the close proximity to the school.”

Miami Springs police arrested Justin Gilbert, 45, David Armeda, 33, Kimberley Lazala, 36, and Suzanne Fish, 40, who lived in the 1,196-square-foot-home.

According to a Miami Springs police Instagram post, Gilbert was charged with “possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school with intent to sell/distribute gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and methamphetamine.”

Gilbert was also charged with possession of psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, Heroin, Xanax, oxycodone and drug paraphernalia, police said.

Upon confirming a confidential informant’s tip that Gilbert’s 10-year-old son lived at the home, cops tacked on a charge of “felony child neglect,” according to the arrest report.

Cops also charged Gilbert with grand theft auto after a search of the backyard revealed a stripped 2021 YNGF scooter “with its wires exposed” that was reported stolen last February in Miami.

Gilbert remains behind bars at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, as of Thursday, pending a bond hearing.

Miami Springs is a three-square-mile city, with a population of 14,000, that sits just north of Miami International Airport. Mokena Drive, where the police raid took place, is on the city’s crime-ridden east end.

Last year, Miami Springs built 8-foot fences along sections of Mokena Drive, and four other streets, to block pedestrian and vehicle access from Northwest 36th Street. This measure was approved to rein in shootings and other crimes.

According to a five-page evidence report obtained by the Herald through a public records request, police hauled off items including a cornucopia of drugs, needles, a digital scale, glass containers, cellphones and rubber tourniquets.

Police transported Armeda, Lazala and Fish to TGK, where each remains pending bond hearings.

Armeda was charged with five felonies including possession of cocaine, GHB, methamphetamine, oxycodone and drug paraphernalia. His bond has been set at $12,000.

Lazala was charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. She also had an outstanding bench warrant for a misdemeanor petty theft. Her bond has been set at $5,500.

Fish was charged with possession of cocaine, heroin and drug paraphernalia. Her bond has been set at $8,500.

Theo Karantsalis can be reached at karantsalis@bellsouth.net.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 12:00 AM.