28 people were arrested in a month-long campaign conducted by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, hoping to arrest those responsible for a heroin epidemic that’s sweeping the area.
“Operation Spring Smack Down” was launched after the area saw 32 overdoses in 31 days. The sheriff’s office targeted areas in Sarasota, Venice, Nokomis, Englewood and North Port, which they found “most susceptible to narcotic sales and accompanying criminal behavior.”
The 28 people that were arrested had a combined total of 332 prior felony charges and 267 prior misdemeanor charges. Already this year, the Sheriff’s Office has investigated 71 heroin-related overdoses and 14 deaths.
Most have been resulted from heroin mixed with fentanyl, a drug “approximately 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.”