ORLANDO, Fla. – A joint operation with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, Orlando police and Orange County Sheriff's Office led to the arrest of people accused of trafficking cocaine during Operation White Lines, according to police.
The operation targeted gang members in the Holden Heights area of Orlando and unincorporated Orange County, police said.
Police and MBI officials discussed the operation and arrests during a news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the leader of the gang, Ashely "Whiteboi" White, 36, was arrested during the MBI investigation, has 50 previous felony charges and nine convictions.
Joel Gutierrez, Roy Lee Jackson, Michael Stewart, Windman Esters, Anton Holmes, Joan Williams, Germaine Davis and John Brown IV were also arrested during the operation.
Police said three people are still wanted and U.S. marshals are looking for them.
"The message we're sending is 'Yeah, we're coming after you,'" Demings said. "There will be more arrests."
Orlando police Chief John Mina said the suspects were trafficking cocaine to Orlando from Miami for more than 12 years and operating out of the Holden Heights area of Orlando.
During the investigation, two undercover deputies were in the area and shot at. Their vehicle was hit 11 times by three different calibers of weapons, Demings said.
While the drug trafficking was going on in Holden Heights, Demings said 29 people were shot in the area and there were several homicides.
The investigation was transferred to MBI in 2015.
More than three kilos, or six pounds, of cocaine was seized during the operation, as well as six weapons, MBI officials said.
Police estimated that the group was moving more than 10 kilos a month and that the street value was several hundred thousand dollars.
Investigators estimated the group was making more than $3.6 million a year selling and transporting drugs.
MBI officers said they are now working to track down the source of the drugs coming into Miami.
In a second drug trafficking ring bust, called Operation 81 Grand, authorities announced Tuesday that eight more people were arrested.
Authorities said an organization led by Eric Gilles was transporting drugs from South Florida. Gilles, Himmy Remy, Edson Gelin, Raymond Mike Ayap, Cristobal Sotomayor-Cebollero, Ronny Joseph, Kissinger St. Fleur and Gerardson Norgaisse are accused of distributing cocaine in the area.
In both arrests, drugs, guns and cash were also seized.