Over the past few nights, members of the Winter Haven Police Department have been hard at work getting trafficking amounts of Fentanyl, Methamphetamine and Oxycodone off the street.
On 12/17/22 at approximately 7:40 p.m., 50 year-old Douglas Smith of Winter Haven was riding his motorized bicycle when he ran a stop sign at the intersection of 24th St SW and Ave. D SW. Officers attempted to stop Smith, however he continued on until he fell off the bike. He attempted to pedal away since the bike would not start back up, however he was ultimately stopped and detained after a short foot chase.
Inside of a zippered bag located on the bike was a total of 5.7 grams of Fentanyl, which is a trafficking amount. (In comparison, .2 grams of Fentanyl is potentially lethal.) Also inside of the bag was Methamphetamine. It should be noted that Smith is currently out on bond for a May 2022 arrest for Trafficking Methamphetamine.
Smith was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with Trafficking Fentanyl (F-1), Possession of Methamphetamine (F-3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M-1) and Resisting W/O Violence (M-1).
On 12/21/22 at 7:53 p.m., 70 year-old Philip Arter of Eagle Lake was driving has silver Toyota along Hwy 17 at Cypress Gardens Blvd. when he was observed without a seatbelt. A lawful traffic stop was conducted and a K-9 open-air sniff of the vehicle was done. The K-9 alerted to narcotics and when officers searched the vehicle, a bag containing a total of 5.3 grams of Oxycodone pills were located. Additionally, .9 grams of Methamphetamine was found.
Arter was booked into the Polk County Jail for Possession of Oxycodone (F-3), Possession of Methamphetamine (F-3) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Also, on 12/21/22, 47 year-old Juan Lamas was observed riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road towards on-coming traffic in the area of 7th St. SW and Post Ave. SW. When officers approached Lamas, he dropped a baggie, which landed directly next to the back wheel of the bike. Inside of the baggie was .8 grams of Fentanyl. As officers attempted to handcuff Lamas, he tried pulling away and then rammed his head continuously into one of the officers. He was ultimately taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs.
Lamas was booked into the Polk County Jail for Possession of Fentanyl (F-3), Resisting Arrest With Violence (F-3), Possession of Methamphetamine (F-3) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
“Once again, our officers are dedicated and working hard to get dangerous drugs off the streets of Winter Haven,” said Police Chief David Brannan. “This is not the first rodeo for all three of these men and we will continue to do everything we can to combat those who choose to endanger our community with these deadly drugs.”
SMITH ARTER LAMAS