DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two Davie residents were named in a federal indictment involving a worldwide ring of alleged drug dealers accused of distributing fentanyl.
Elizabeth Tan and Anthony Santos Gomez, of Laurel Oaks Drive, were named in the 24-page document, along with several others.
Undercover DEA agents, joined by authorities from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, were in the suspects’ neighborhood for several hours before they entered their home at around 5 p.m., Wednesday.
Neighbors said Tan and Gomez had just moved into the neighborhood a few months prior. “They really had not a lot of interactions with their other neighbors, so to us they were outsiders,” said neighbor Sherif El Haddad.
“It makes you wonder if every neighbor that moves into the neighborhood could be anybody,” said neighbor Andy Dibosco.
Neighbor Sofia Nazzelladidosco said that this news comes as a shock. “We just stayed indoors, like, ‘OK, let them do their job.’ This is crazy,” she said.
Now they are in jail, as a federal grand jury accused them of being part of an international drug ring that distributed the highly addictive drug fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and is said to be more potent than heroin and morphine.
According to an indictment handed down by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota, Tan and Gomez are among several who obtained the drug from locations outside the country, including China and Canada.
The document said, “Co-conspirators used computers to order and sell substances online using internet sites that are specifically designed to be hidden from the public.”
It also said, “Co-conspirators used various telecommunications facilities designed to mask their identities.” They also used various aliases.
The drugs were distributed to several states including Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Oregon, Colorado, North Carolina, Maryland and New Jersey.
Documents said the shipments were arranged by 36-year-old Daniel Vivas Ceron, a Colombian National who has already been extradited from Panama.
At least four deaths and several serious bodily injuries are linked to the case.
Neighbors said that young children were even inside the suburban home. “I just knew that there was maybe one of two children there,” Nazzelladidosco said.
Back in the quiet Davie neighborhood, federal agents worked into the night and removed an ATV, bags of belongings and a Maserati.
“That’s just something that we don’t hear of everyday,” said Haddad. “I could understand why they would pick something quiet like this for them to be under the radar, but they didn’t last long.”
Tan and Gomez appeared in court Thursday, where the judge spoke on how the original charges are out of North Dakota. Therefore, a removal hearing will be held, which means the case will be moved to and handled in North Dakota.
They will be back in a federal courtroom Tuesday morning.
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