𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 🌊💲🤫

This morning, Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced the results of Operation White Tide during a live press conference; a major narcotics operation targeting drug dealers and traffickers operating right here in Lee County.

The result? 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

Operation White Tide was not an overnight operation, and it wasn’t about simply putting handcuffs on people. It was about following the drugs, identifying the people responsible for bringing them into our community, building strong cases, and holding them accountable in court. That takes time, patience, intelligence, and a tremendous amount of work by our Narcotics Unit and our law-enforcement partners.

Drug trafficking doesn’t respect county lines. That’s why partnerships and intelligence sharing are so critical to our mission. We’re working alongside our state and federal partners, as well as the great State Attorney Amira Fox and her team, to make sure these cases are aggressively prosecuted and these criminals understand this county is no safe haven for their deeds.

So why should this matter to you? Because public safety isn’t abstract. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. These ongoing efforts and operations are making a noticeable impact, and 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬:

𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠:

🔗𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬
🏳️𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟒 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞
🍃𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟓 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐣𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐚
🌪️ 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟒 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞
💊 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬
🔫 𝟓𝟏 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬
🤑 $𝟏𝟐𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐫𝐲
🛻 𝟏 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝

As Sheriff, I need you to understand THESE AREN'T JUST NUMBERS. Every gram of fentanyl, every gun, and every drug dealer we take off the streets means one less threat to your family, your neighborhood, and your community. Every firearm recovered is one less weapon available to fuel violence. Every arrest is one more criminal being held accountable. THIS IS THE MISSION AT WORK!

And when we talk about the investment in our Narcotics Unit, look at the results. We doubled the unit because we knew we needed more resources to attack this problem. During that same period, overdose deaths declined substantially. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

The same is true when we talk about crime. Drug trafficking and violent crime frequently go hand in hand. Weapons, disputes between dealers, violence and other criminal activity often surround the drug trade. When we remove traffickers and dangerous drugs from our streets, we remove opportunities for that criminal activity to happen.

And if you want to know whether the investment was worth it, look at the results: significant quantities of dangerous narcotics removed from our streets, traffickers arrested, and overdose deaths declining substantially. No single statistic tells the entire story. But together, they demonstrate why this investment matters.

In case you're new here...

THIS is what public safety looks like. THIS is what happens when law enforcement invests in our community, works shoulder to shoulder with our partners, builds strong cases, and holds criminals accountable. One thing you'll learn about our team: It's all gas and no brakes when it comes to public safety... 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩.

-Sheriff Carmine Marceno ... See MoreSee Less