VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Central Florida deputies and U.S. Senator Rick Scott met in Volusia County to discuss the fentanyl crisis.
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They said the issue starts at the border, with the drugs coming from the Mexican cartels.
Channel 9 investigative reporter Shannon Butler explains how bad the sheriff’s office said the problem is and what they need to fix it.
Flagler County is home to about 125,000 residents, but Sheriff Rick Staly said the sheriff’s office seized enough fentanyl to kill all the people in the county and several more.
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“We seized 5.7 million,” Staly said.
Staly and other local sheriffs said it starts at the border.
Read: Sheriff: Florida drug busts net enough fentanyl to kill 800K people
According to the annual report released last week, the Department of Homeland Security seized more than 1.8 million pounds of drugs and more than 36,000 criminal suspects.
Senator Rick Scott vowed Thursday to do whatever it takes to help law enforcement stop the fentanyl from making its way to Central Florida.
But it will be a challenging task.
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The complicated issue is that it’s a huge cartel business, and the border is a hot-button issue.
Federal agencies also differ on how to handle drug arrests and busts nationally and internationally.
Locally, sheriff’s offices said they would go full steam ahead in arresting those who bring the deadly narcotic to central Florida because too many people are dying, including youth.
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