ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday highlighted the state’s fight against fentanyl at a news conference at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s operations center in Orlando.
The governor, who was joined by Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, announced the results of an undercover operation dubbed Operation Burn Baby Burn.
Seventeen people were arrested in the operation. Investigators seized approximately six pounds of fentanyl and four pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street value of about $1.5 million.
“Right here in Orlando, FDLE worked with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office,” DeSantis said. “(They) broke up a drug trafficking organization importing fentanyl from Mexico and from California. Seventeen arrests made, 6 pounds of fentanyl seized, 4 pounds of cocaine (and) enough fentanyl to kill 1.3 million individuals.”
Collins was asked about the fentanyl problem in Orange and Osceola counties.
[WATCH: Gov. DeSantis news conference]
“(It’s) huge. How many people live (here)?” Collins said. “This is critical. How many universities are here?”
DeSantis also touted the results of the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (SAFE) grant program which was established in 2023 to provide law enforcement with funding needed to conduct large-scale drug operations across the state.
Since its inception, the 200 approved SAFE investigations led to 2,127 arrests, the seizure of 485 pounds of fentanyl, and more than 63,000 fentanyl pills, according to the governor’s office.
DeSantis also went on to call out Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell, saying she isn’t “gung-ho about doing what needs to be done” in fighting drug-related crime.
“These guys are bringing guys to justice, treating them like the murderers they are in Seminole and Brevard and other parts of Florida,” DeSantis said, directly criticizing Worrell. “You’re not seeing that here.”
[WATCH: State Attorney Monique Worrell news conference]
A few hours after DeSantis’ press conference, Worrell held one of her own to defend her record, saying that DeSantis relied on “false data” provided by former Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez, who was removed from office on racketeering charges in June.
“The Ninth Judicial Circuit has prosecuted fentanyl trafficking cases aggressively and effectively,” she said. ”There have been approximately 100 cases since January alone that have received drug trafficking minimum mandatory sentences. Twenty-nine of those cases were of fentanyl traffickers, and six of those cases received sentences over 20 years in prison."
Worrell went on to say that DeSantis often emphasizes funding law enforcement, but that the funding doesn’t make it to the prosecutor’s office.
“You can’t fund half the system and expect full justice to be delivered,” Worrell said. “When prosecutors don’t have the resources to match the volume and complexity of fentanyl cases, communities ultimately pay the price.”
Collins emphasized the seriousness of the threat posed by fentanyl in Osceola and Orange counties.
“How serious is it for Osceola and Orange County? asked News 6 reporter Laverne McGee.
“Huge. If you put people’s lives at risk, you’re going to do time. We’re going to find you. We’re going to bring you in and you’re going to face justice,” Collins said.