MARTIN COUNTY, FL – A significant drug bust occurred on Wednesday when Martin County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations detectives seized the largest fentanyl haul in the county’s history. The operation resulted in the capture of 10,000 fentanyl pills, valued at $300,000.
The arrest took place in a shopping plaza parking lot on Federal Highway. Detectives identified the suspects as Jeffry Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ortiz, 30, Yelson Daniel Alvarez-Ortiz, 26, and Carlos Antonio Almonte-Melo, 36, all residents of New York. They are suspected of being linked to a broader drug trafficking network.
The three men now face charges of trafficking in fentanyl, which in Florida carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. The seized drugs, disguised as pills, originated from New York, highlighting the interstate nature of this drug trafficking operation.