Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will be joined by Roger B. Handberg, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Department of Justice, and Lee Massie, Assistant Commissioner, Florida Department of Law Enforcement tomorrow morning, Tuesday, January 9 @10:30 a.m. at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center, 1891 Jim Keene Blvd., Winter Haven.
Sheriff Grady Judd will discuss multi-agency investigations of two central Florida-based drug trafficking organizations in December and January; Multi kilos of fentanyl and cocaine were seized and 11 people were arrested.
Those involved in the investigations are: Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Central Florida HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force, Winter Haven Police Department, 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office (Brian Haas, State Attorney), Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Florida Attorney General’s Office (Attorney General Ashley Moody), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida (Roger B. Handberg), Department of Justice. Representatives of the above organizations will be at the new conference.
The investigations were conducted with the assistance of the State Financial Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (S.A.F.E) Florida Program managed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In 2023, the Florida Legislature established state funding for the S.A.F.E program to conduct investigations designed to combat illegal fentanyl trafficking. The grant provides financial support and assistance for approved fentanyl-related investigative costs, such as overtime, travel, investigative supplies and equipment, and training.
“I’m proud of our detectives and partner agencies who worked hard to remove kilos of destructive drugs off the streets. We are all working together to fight fentanyl, which is killing people by the thousands in the US as a result of drug overdoses. These drug traffickers are destroying lives, families and communities.” Grady Judd, Sheriff
