NAPLES MANOR, Fla. (December 27, 2019) — Vice and narcotics detectives arrested four people in connection with drug dealing and unlawful possession of firearms after executing a search warrant in Naples Manor. The investigating detectives seized a variety of narcotics, U.S. currency, and three firearms from the target residence located in the 5300 block of Trammel Street, according to Naples News. The detectives from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office also arrested an individual at the residence who had an outstanding arrest warrant entered by the Miami Dade Police Department for charges relating to a motor vehicle infraction.
Collier County Sheriff’s Deputies raided the home on Trammel Street armed with a search warrant. Inside, the vice detectives encountered four individuals, four of whom the police were able to connect to the premises. The vice detectives seized three firearms, cocaine, cocaine base or crack, fentanyl, Xanax, MDMA or ecstasy, methamphetamine, marijuana, along with items connected to the drug trade.
A 35-year-old male faces the bulk of the charges issued by police. The investigating vice detectives charged this man with trafficking MDMA, trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking cocaine, possession of narcotics paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, along with possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.
The vice detectives charged three people with possession of drug paraphernalia. They were one 43-year-old male and two females. One of the females was 53 years of age and the other was 26 years old at the time of the arrest.
Police also arrested a 41-year-old man on an outstanding arrest warrant. The detectives reported that the man knocked on the door of the residence while the police were searching. They allowed him in but ran his information and learned he had a warrant from the Miami Dade Police Department for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license as a habitual offender.
There was no bond information available for anyone arrested.
Florida Drug Trafficking Crimes
Florida’s drug trafficking statute establishes punishments for drug trafficking crimes depending on the composition and weight of the drug. Section 893.135 of the Florida Statutes defines trafficking broadly. Trafficking under Section 893.135 means buying, selling, manufacturing, delivering, or bringing an illegal narcotic into Florida, or possessing or having constructive possession over a certain quantity of drugs. Anyone convicted of trafficking any drug in Florida is guilty of a first-degree felony. The maximum incarcerated penalty for a first-degree felony is 30 years in the state penitentiary.
Section 893.135 sets forth minimum-mandatory prison sentences for trafficking particular substances depending on the weight of the drugs. The applicable minimum-mandatory penalties established by the legislature reflect the potency of the drug and the potential harm it could cause in the community. For example, trafficking in fentanyl with four grams of the drug but less than fourteen grams carries with it a three-year minimum-mandatory prison term. Trafficking in fentanyl between fourteen grams and 28 grams is punishable by a minimum-mandatory sentence of 15 years. A person found guilty of trafficking fentanyl in excess of 28 grams must serve 25 years in the state penitentiary.
Conversely, trafficking in marijuana, while still a serious crime, is not treated as harshly. The most severe penalty a court could impose for trafficking marijuana in Florida is 30 years committed, with fifteen years as a minimum-mandatory sentence.