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Florida deputies seize enough fentanyl to kill nearly 40,000 people, sheriff says

The major drug bust happened in Avon Park, authorities say.
Credit: Highlands County Sheriff's Office

AVON PARK, Fla. — A traffic stop led to one of the largest drug seizures ever in Highlands County.

Deputies say they confiscated enough fentanyl to kill nearly 40,000 people. And, that wasn't all. They also seized more than a pound of heroin and nearly a pound of cocaine. 

The traffic stop began around 7:40 p.m. Sunday when a deputy spotted a blue Ford Focus he said had a tail light out on North Central Avenue in Avon Park. A K-9 detected drugs in the car, leading to a search. The Highlands County Sheriff's Office says that search turned up the following:

  • 554 grams of heroin
  • 450 grams of cocaine
  • 99.6 grams of fentanyl
  • 975 oxycodone pills
  • 107 Xanax pills
  • 90 vape pens with liquid THC

"A dose of 2-3 milligrams of fentanyl is enough to be deadly, meaning there was enough of the drug to kill 40,000 people using 2.5 milligrams as a fatal dose," the sheriff's office wrote in a news release. "To put that in perspective, that would be enough to kill nearly 40 percent of the people in Highlands County."

The street value of that fentanyl is $15,000. 

"Add that to the $20,000 of cocaine, $40,000 of oxycodone and $45,000 of heroin, and the total seizure is worth $120,000 on the street, not including the value of the vape pens," the sheriff's office added.

RELATED: 9 members of a Tampa-based drug trafficking organization indicted

Authorities say there was also a loaded handgun in the car.

The driver, who deputies have identified as 40-year-old Ruben Ramirez-Rivera, was arrested and charged with the following:

  • trafficking cocaine
  • trafficking heroin
  • trafficking oxycodone
  • trafficking a controlled substance
  • possession of opium or a derivative (fentanyl) with intent to sell/deliver
  • possession of a Schedule III or IV drug with intent to sell/deliver
  • possession of heroin with intent to sell/deliver
  • possession of cocaine with intent to sell/deliver
  • felony possession of marijuana
  • possession of a weapon during the commission of a first-degree felony
  • possession of drug equipment

He is being held without bond in the Highlands County Jail.

“I’m very proud of the work done by the deputies involved in this arrest,” Sheriff Paul Blackman wrote in a statement. “To take this amount of drugs off the street is a huge accomplishment, and our county is safer because of it.” 

RELATED: U.S. Marshals reportedly arrest 140 people in 'targeted enforcement initiative'

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