SWAT called in to make drug bust. The suspect is 71 and had 189 rounds of ammo, cops say

At age 71, this Florida Keys man is working steady in the drug-dealing game, police say.

Nelson Alvarez-Bermudez, of Big Coppitt Key, was jailed Thursday after the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team, along with state and federal agents, found him at home at about 6:40 a.m. and served a warrant.

Deputies said they found Alvarez-Bermudez in possession of 22.7 grams of cocaine — more than three-quarters of an ounce — along with $10,182 cash they suspect came from illicit drug sales.

The senior citizen also had a 9mm handgun, 189 rounds of ammunition and a digital scale, police said.

Alvarez-Bermudez is a convicted felon, so his possession of the gun drew a felony charge.

He was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On Friday afternoon, Alvarez-Bermudez remained jailed without bond at the Stock Island Detention Center.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.