Fentanyl Fiasco: Treasure Coast sheriffs, police trying to crack down on drug epidemic

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — Fentanyl trafficking has become an immense problem on the Treasure Coast, with overdoses and deaths becoming more and more frequent over the last few years.

CBS12 News checked in with police at the county and municipal levels to see how they’re handling it.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death between the ages of 18-34, and police are cracking down on it. CBS12 News met a woman earlier this week who was personally impacted by this epidemic.

“How are we going to shut it down? The fentanyl, the trafficking. We have a personal thing in our family. My son died of fentanyl,” Kathy Johnson shared, holding back tears.

That was just before the CBS12 gubernatorial debate Monday, where Governor Ron DeSantis weighed in.

“I signed legislation, raising the penalties for people who are trafficking, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues," he stated. "If your trafficking that garbage, that poison, you are killing people in our state, and we are going to treat you like the murderer that you are."

It’s already happening in Indian River County, where there have been nearly 300 overdoses this year alone.

The sheriff is now charging fentanyl dealers with first-degree murder.

“We have established our investigative team that’s specifically focuses on the Fentanyl situation," Lt. Joe Abollo said. "I don’t want to call it a crisis but it is getting close. Right now, we’re on an average of one overdose a day here just in Indian River County.”

Lt. Abollo says they’re bringing in the big dogs to help with reinforcement.

“The DEA and right now, the Homeland Security Investigations Unit are closely working with us as a task force.”

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office tells CBS12 they've made 116 Fentanyl-related arrests since the beginning of last year, 64 of which have been in 2022.

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Last year the Port St. Lucie Police Department says there were 15 total overdose deaths in the city. This year there are 15 just from Fentanyl and the police department intends to add a unique position to help track down dealers.

“(An) Opioid Diversion Detective position, and that position will come out; that detective will actually go out to every overdose that is reported to us. They’ll go out, they’ll speak to the families, it’ll be almost a detective and an outreach program," explained Lt. Matt Cuba, who works in the PSLPD's Special Investigations Division. "Get the people the help they need, we’ll have another detective that actually follows up with the information on where they obtain the drugs from that caused the overdose.”

In addition, Attorney General Ashley Moody announced today that over the last few months, enough Fentanyl has been seized in Florida to kill the entire population of the state.