Heroin ring busted in Orange County, drug agents say
The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation is at it again. On November 20, 2013, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation arrested sixteen (16) people for allegedly racketeering and trafficking heroin in the Central Florida area in an investigation known as “Operation Chupa Cabra.” The Agents obtained arrest warrants for all of individuals and did a major round up of all of the players. An arrest warrant means that a Judge felt that there was at least probable cause to believe that these individuals were involved in this illegal activity. These arrest were in addition to four (4) other arrests, allegedly connected to the same ring, that were arrested earlier this year.
This investigation has been active since May 2013 when Agents from the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation arrested a key player in the criminal ring. That defendant has already plead no contest and has been sentenced for his crimes. He is currently incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections. His arrests was vital in the recent round up because information that was obtained in his investigation aided Agents in the “Chupa Cabra” Operation.
Interestingly a “chupacabra” is a creature that is said to drink the blood of goats. It is unclear what type of connection this mythical reference might have in the ongoing investigation and recent arrests.
Drug trafficking is defined as the selling, manufacturing, growing, delivering, or possessing more than a certain amount of a controlled substance. The amount of the substance that needs to be involved in order to label it a trafficking charge depends on the substance. Racketeering activity means to commit, to attempt to commit, to conspire to commit, or to solicit, coerce, or intimidate another person to commit (a) “any crime that is chargeable by petition, indictment, or information” under specified sections of the Florida Statutes, or (b) any conduct defined as “racketeering activity” in the federal RICO Act.
Agents have not released what quantity of drugs were recovered in this operation, this information will be revealed as the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the State Attorney become involved and the litigation begins in the case. However, an inference can be drawn from the press release about the arrests. It seems to suggest that all of those arrested are indeed connected, as they all live within a mile of each other. Other than this limited information, the other evidence seized is unavailable to the public.
It is also alleged that members of this ring brought the drugs from Brooklyn, New York. The information that is has been released indicates that the drug in question in this investigation were actually brought into the Central Florida area on commercial airlines and stored the drugs in three homes in south Orange County while waiting to hit the streets.
The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation is the premier law enforcement agency in Central Florida. This agency is a joint effort of all of the different law enforcement agencies in the area. They are considered to be the best task force around. This agency is primarily focused on organized crime and large scale criminal operations and enterprises.
The selling of heroin has become a primary focus of law enforcement agencies in the Central Florida area, including Orlando. Heroine is a highly addictive drug and is becoming more and more prevalent due to the increased numbers of opiate addictions. Heroin is a cheaper, street drug that can feed the addictions of those that are addicted to many prescriptions drugs used to treat pain such as Hydrocodone and Oxycodone. Due to law enforcement increasing the regulation on prescription writing and filling of these medications, those with serious addictions have started to look elsewhere. Heroin is now the drug of choice for many of them.
Heroin Trafficking and Racketeering are serious felony charges that carry with them large amounts of prison. Both charges have minimum mandatory prison sentences.
