He was imprisoned in Georgia. He still ran a drug ring in Florida, cops say.
A cellphone.
That was all a prison inmate needed to lead a drug ring that distributed roughly 200 pounds of crystal meth in Central Florida, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The agency announced Monday the conclusion of “Operation Extended Stay,” an 11-month, multi-jurisdictional investigation involving the FBI, the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Volusia Bureau of Investigation that netted 28 arrests as of Monday afternoon.
“Our job here isn’t done,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said via the agency’s Facebook, “but thanks to months of hard work by everyone involved in this operation, today there’s a little less crystal meth and fentanyl out on the street.”
Deputies say the ringleader, 42-year-old Jeffery White, used a contraband cellphone to lead the operation from a prison in Washington County, Georgia, where he was serving a 20-year sentence for aggravated assault.
The ring’s other members were operating out of DeLand, Edgewater and Crescent City, according to the sheriff’s office. DeLand and Edgewater are in Volusia County, while Crescent City is in Putnam County in northeast Florida.
Investigators say the operation yielded 20 pounds of crystal meth, 327 fentanyl pills and roughly $41,000 in cash.
“We will not allow traffickers to terrorize our communities by selling these extremely dangerous drugs on Florida streets,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody told the sheriff’s office. “Today’s arrests should send a strong message to anyone trying to cook or sell meth in our state.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 4:11 PM.
