RAIDS TOPPLE MAJOR DRUG RING

October 14, 2009

For immediate release
Contacts: Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer, Volusia
             County Sheriff’s Office (386-736-5989)
David Melenkevitz, Special Agent – Public Information
             Officer, DEA Miami Field Division (954-660-4602)
PIO Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement
             (850-410-7001)
Sandi Copes, Communications Director, Florida Attorney
             General’s Office (850-245-0150)

RAIDS TOPPLE MAJOR DRUG RING

Illegal drugs will be scarcer in the DeLand area after local, state and federal agents dismantled a major marijuana and cocaine distribution ring during a series of coordinated raids. Capping off a nearly 20-month investigation, Wednesday’s raids snared the two reputed heads of the organization, 34-year-old Edward Dragon of DeLand and 27-year-old Hilario Dela-Sancha of DeLeon Springs.

The drug network has been under investigation ever since January 2008, when agents with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI) learned that the group was moving large quantities of cocaine and marijuana through the DeLand area. Shortly afterwards, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was brought in to the investigation. Even before Wednesday’s raids, the investigation had yielded four arrests and the seizure of cocaine and marijuana with an estimated street value of about $60,000. But that was merely the tip of the iceberg. Based on information gathered in the investigation -- dubbed “Operation No Leash” -- agents secured warrants to search 11 different homes in DeLand, DeLeon Springs, Pierson and Seville and across the Putnam County border in Crescent City. By early Wednesday afternoon, a total of 19 people were in custody. Meanwhile, agents armed with arrest warrants continued to search for two additional defendants named in the investigation.

Kicking off at 6 a.m., Wednesday’s raids went off without a hitch. In order to maintain the element of surprise, more than 250 local, state and federal agents participated in the operation so that the target sites could be hit simultaneously. In addition to DEA and the multi-agency VBI, SWAT teams from the Volusia County, Flagler County, Lake County and Putnam County sheriff’s offices along with municipal police SWAT teams from Orange City, New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach and Port Orange were brought in to ensure safe entry by the search teams. Agents quickly rounded up 17 people who were named in arrest warrants along with two others who were snared in Wednesday’s operation. A total of 14 kilos of cocaine with a street value of approximately $420,000 was seized out of a home on Gaudrey Avenue in DeLand. Four pounds of marijuana also were seized from the home and two people were arrested at that location. Additionally, agents seized nine guns along with money and several vehicles during Wednesday’s raids.

VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime. Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor.

The 17 defendants arrested Wednesday on open warrants were as follows:

· Agustine Armenta-Obesa, 31, DeLand. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $55,000 bond.

· Francisco Camacho, 29, DeLand. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $15,000 bond.

· Cornelio Cardenas, 18, Pierson. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, delivery of cocaine, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, $80,000 bond.

· Adriana Colunga, 20, Crescent City. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $155,000 bond.

· Joseph Dauria, 58, Ormond Beach. Conspiracy to deliver cocaine, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, $10,000 bond.

· Hilario Dela-Sancha, 27, DeLeon Springs. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $205,000 bond.

· Edward Dragon, 34, DeLand. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, $10,000 bond.

· Alejandro Figueroa, 34, Orange City. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $155,000 bond.

· Laura Figueroa, 30, Orange City. Trafficking in illegal drugs, $155,000 bond.

· Ramon Flores, 31, DeLand. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, trafficking in marijuana, $255,000 bond.

· Adalberto Galarza, 37, Pierson. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $205,000.

· Alfredo Galarza, 26, Seville. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, $280,000 bond.

· Juan Garcia, 24, DeLand. Conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, $270,000 bond.

· Derek Jackson, 19, DeLand. Conspiracy to sell or deliver cocaine, conspiracy to sell or deliver marijuana, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $25,000 bond.

· Carlos Lira, 27, Pierson. Trafficking in cocaine, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $155,000 bond.

· Courtney Rickman, 23, DeLand. Solicitation to deliver cocaine, child neglect, conspiracy to deliver marijuana, use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a crime, $20,000 bond.

· Carlos Verdel, Jr., 30, DeLeon Springs. Conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, $60,000 bond.

In addition, two others -- Alex Alvarado and Artura Rodriguez -- were picked up during the raids and charged with armed drug trafficking.