NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Police have arrested several drug dealers after a multi-agency effort that spanned almost a year.
The effort is called Operation Summer Slam, and it saw officers arresting several high-profile heroin dealers in the county. A lot of the drug is reportedly laced with fentanyl.
Out of the 12 warrants served Wednesday, officers made a total of six arrests. Three other arrests also took place as a result of the operation.
The crackdown was almost a year in the making, and officers said they specifically waited until this time to arrest the dealers so they could ensure the dealers were taken off the streets before students go on summer break.
“It’s important now because we have the kids coming out of school and stuff, and we need to get these guys off the street,” said Miami-Dade Police Lt. Christopher Casiano. “What got us on to these targets was the fact that they were selling heroin that caused overdoses — they were laced with fentanyl.”
Detectives said the investigation began after 100 people died in a week during the spring of 2017 due to heroin overdoses.
“Every number that you see on an overdose that passed away represents a life — somebody’s brother, somebody’s mother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s child,” Casiano said. “The addiction of heroin doesn’t care about social dynamics. It doesn’t care if you’re poor or if you’re rich. You can become addicted just as easy as anybody else.”
“We knew that it was something we had to attack aggressively,” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
During the drug bust, officers found cash, weapons, bullets and a number of drugs.
Several other agencies were also involved in the operation. Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Attorney’s Office were among those agencies involved.
Police still hope to arrest several other subjects.
‘We’re not gonna give up,” Zabaleta said. “We’re going to continue fighting the heroin problem because we’re not going to allow it to get to the level of epidemic.
Police said they will be going after drug dealers all throughout the summer.
“We want to try to rid as much as possible the heroin off the streets knowing that our children are going to be home now, and we don’t want it to reach their hands,” said Zabaleta.
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