February 23, 2010
Oxycodone Sale Behind The DEA’s Arrest Of A Port Richey Cop
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
Yesterday news came out a Port Richey police officer was arrested by the DEA. Today details surrounding the arrest of James Ruland are starting to emerge. According to TBO.com Ruland was arrested for planning to sell oxycodone pills to a DEA informant. He is now in a Pinellas County Jail on charges of drug distribution.
Ruland was a sergeant with the Port Richey Police when he began meeting with a confidential informant to discuss selling the oxycodone pills. The two met three times this year and all three of those meetings were taped by the DEA informant. The two were scheduled to meet in Spring Hill where Ruland was scheduled to accept a $5,000 down payment for the drugs.…
February 18, 2010
UCF Student Arrested In Orlando For Trafficking In Ecstasy And Marijuana
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
A 21-year-old University of Central Florida student allegedly has admitted to trafficking in marijuana and Ecstasy following an arrest at his off-campus apartment. According to the Orlando Sentinel Darek Dziamalek told investigators he sells Ecstasy and that he was trafficking in illegal drugs following a search of his Pegasus Landing apartment.
Dziamalek apparently signed a consent form to allow police to search his apartment. Once inside police report seeing (“in plain view ”) drug paraphernalia and marijuana. They later discovered a bottle of Ecstasy with 66 tablets inside and a small bag filled with crushed Ecstasy. According to the story this is the first arrest for Dziamalek.…
February 15, 2010
Pinellas County Law Enforcement Set To Arrest 40 People For Prescription Pill Trafficking
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
If you are trafficking in prescription drugs in St. Petersburg or anywhere in Pinellas County you better beware. Law enforcement officials have arrest warrants in hand for 40 Pinellas County residents and they are planning on executing those warrants today according to Bradenton.com. They are also obtaining arrest warrants for numerous people living outside of Pinellas County.
The Pinellas County Drug Task force was created to combat prescription drug fraud and today will bring to a culmination a 10-month investigation into prescription pill trafficking . Detectives say that 55,000 pills with a street value of $750,000 were obtained fraudulently. Among the illegal prescriptions were oxycodone and Xanax.…
February 10, 2010
Tampa Man Arrested For Armed Cocaine Trafficking, Possession Of Marijuana And Gun Charges
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
Tampa man Joseph Barton was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana , armed trafficking in cocaine , being a felon in possession of a gun and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges come after sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at his Tampa home. He is currently being held in Hillsborough County jail without bail.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, sheriff’s deputies found 28 grams of marijuana, a loaded gun, 60 grams of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the man’s home on 129th Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies claim Barton is a habitual felon. The drugs found in his Tampa home are said to be valued at $2,500.…
January 28, 2010
Lawyer For Buju Banton Claims Entrapment In Sarasota Drug Case, Wants Paid Informant Revealed
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
The drug trial of reggae star Buju Banton in a federal courtroom in Tampa hasn’t begun yet but the musician’s criminal defense attorney has already begun to set up his criminal defense strategy. Banton’s lawyer has accused the government of entrapping his client in a drug deal that involved a brick of cocaine being exchanged at a police-controlled warehouse in Sarasota according to a story on TampaBay.com. He is also requesting that the identity of a paid informant central to the case be revealed.
Banton’s trial is set to begin in March and he is currently being held in a Pinellas County jail.…
January 26, 2010
Man Charged With Drug Trafficking Has Links To Pain Clinics In Tampa, St. Pete, Orlando, Lakeland and Jacksonville
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
A pair of men from Dunedin and Tampa have been charged with drug trafficking for supplying oxycodone to drug addicts through their pain management clinics. According to authorities as reported on TBO.com three other people have been charged and two have already pled guilty to drug distribution charges. The pair that has already pled guilty admitted to distributing morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and alprazolam. The drugs were allegedly dealt out of pain center clinics in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Lakeland and Jacksonville.
On top of the charges for drug trafficking , Troy Wubbena of Tampa is being charged with cheating more than $200,000 from Medicare.…
January 13, 2010
Pinellas Drug Operation Nets 40 Arrests For Crack, Powder Cocaine, Marijuana And Prescription Drugs
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s office conducted a drug cleanup operation last night and arrested more than 40 suspects according to the St. Petersburg Times. Narcotics detectives conducted the six-month investigation and set out to arrest 80 suspects on charges related to prescription drugs, crack, powder cocaine and marijuana.
The operation will continue today as officers with the Kenneth City Police Department pursue the other suspects that were not in custody at the time the story was published. The operation was part of an initiative that targeted drug dealing and possession near Lealman. There were approximately 226 charges filed in the operation.…
January 6, 2010
Buju Banton Arrives In Pinellas County Jail As He Awaits Trial On Federal Drug Charges
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
U.S. Marshalls transported reggae star Buju Banton to a Pinellas County jail this morning where he will wait for a trial on federal drug charges. The singer is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. The charges stem from a drug bust in Sarasota where Banton and two other men were caught on video tape entering into a drug transaction with undercover officers according to reports and a story on TampaBay.com.
Banton’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Tampa. His lawyer was quoted as saying that Banton will plead not guilty. The reggae star is nominated for a Grammy this year and is 36 years old.…
December 16, 2009
Tampa Courtroom Will Be Site For Cocaine Distribution Trial Of Raggae Star Buju Banton
Posted By 1 800 FIGHT IT
Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton will fight charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in a Tampa courtroom after waiving his bail hearing in a Miami federal court. The charges stem from a cocaine purchase in Sarasota last week. According to an Associated Press story, the singer and two others attempted to purchase a “large amount” of cocaine from an undercover officer. The maximum prison sentence in Florida for the drug crime could be life in prison.
According to a DEA affidavit, law enforcement officers were tipped off about the cocaine deal by a confidential informant. Banton’s attorney has proclaimed the Jamaican singer “completely innocent” of the drug charges.…
