PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office announced the results of what Sheriff Ric Bradshaw called the largest drug trafficking operation in his 20-year tenure, resulting in 101 arrests and the seizure of enough fentanyl to potentially kill more than 862,000 people.
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PBSO, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney's Office held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss Operation Unplugged, a year-long investigation that dismantled drug trafficking groups distributing deadly substances and engaging in violent crimes.
"I've been the sheriff here for 20 years. I've never seen one this big," Bradshaw said. "Usually you see maybe 15, 20, but when you're in the hundreds, that's a bunch, and we still got some more to go."
Operation Unplugged resulted in 101 arrests with 25 pending arrests, according to PBSO Col. Talal Masri. The investigation seized 1,724.97 grams of fentanyl and 35 firearms.
"One thing I do want to mention is this could have potentially resulted in the death of 862,485 people. That's how much fentanyl. In addition to the fentanyl, we seized 35 firearms and several other types of drugs," Masri said. "Like sheriff mentioned, we talk about Operation Unplugged, and I'll start with telling you why we decided to call it Unplugged, because if you're a drug dealer, you're plugged. So, we unplugged them."
The operation targeted what officials described as a severe public health crisis. Within the last five years, Palm Beach County has experienced 5,121 overdoses, including 1,026 deaths resulting from those overdoses, Masri said.
The groups were found to be distributing fentanyl, xylazine, crack cocaine, MDMA, bath salts, marijuana and counterfeit prescription medications while also engaging in illegal firearms transactions and contributing to elevated violent crime, including homicides, drive-by shootings, firearms violations, trafficking in stolen property and gang-related violence.
State Attorney Alexcia Cox praised the coordination between agencies through an initiative called FORCE, which stands for focus operations to reduce criminal enterprises.
"This operation demonstrates our firm commitment to reclaiming neighborhoods, because this is a neighborhood," Cox said. "Let there be no doubt that there is no tolerance for this criminal activity in our community. We will act decisively."
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement provided roughly $140,000 in overtime expenses and about $90,000 for undercover buys to support the investigation. Multiple agencies participated, including the West Palm DEA, the city of Lake Worth Beach and PBSO's street team and gang unit.
Bradshaw emphasized the community impact of removing drug dealers from neighborhoods.
"The takeaway from this, if you haven't been paying attention, is, when you have an operation like this, two good things happen. One, you save people's lives. Two, you clean up the community," Bradshaw said. "When you get these thugs out of the neighborhood people feel much better, neighborhoods thrive better and the community thrives better."
