Law enforcement agencies across Central Florida are continuing their attack on the illegal possession of prescription pills and sale of prescription drugs. Over the past several months law enforcement agencies including the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) have added more officers, detectives and agents to combat the overwhelming increase in illegal possession of the prescription drugs. With this increase in law enforcement, the Courts across Central Florida have clearly seen a growth in illegal prescription drug cases.
Over the last 11 months, a number of these law enforcement agencies have been working a criminal investigation in Marion County that led to 43 individual arrests for over 200 felonies. The target of the investigation was into the trafficking of thousands of Oxycodone and methadone pills. An Orlando Sentinel article indicated that the “ringleader” formed the organization that included several operators and reselling prescription pills for $15 to $20 a piece resulting in over $100,000 in profits.
This investigation is a clear indication of the focus and dedication of resources that the local law enforcement agencies are willing to dedicate to this pill epidemic. Local law enforcement agencies are working together with DEA and FDLE in order to share resources and make these types of arrests across Central Florida. With the assistance of these Federal and State agencies the local law enforcement officers are targeting larger rings of trafficking the pills,doctor shopping, pill mills, and the doctors who are alleged to have been overprescribing the medications.