- April 25, 2024
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After numerous undercover operations within the past year, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit was able to obtain felony arrest warrants for 18 different subjects for various narcotics-related drug dealing charges, according to a news release by the FCSO.
About $15,000-worth of controlled substances were seized, including fentanyl, oxycodone, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, cannabis and THC oil.
Tony Lanning and Gina Howard, known residents of the homeless camp in the woods behind the Flagler County Public Library, were arrested for drug sales. Detectives conducted several undercover operations, which led to a sale of synthetic cathinones, also known as bath salts or “Molly,” from Lanning.
Detectives were also able to purchase heroin, which contained fentanyl, from Howard. The presence of fentanyl in heroin has become a common occurrence, as upper-level distributors will use Fentanyl as a cutting agent for heroin to increase volume and potency. Heroin laced with fentanyl has reportedly resulted in the deaths of several drug users in Flagler and neighboring counties.
Sheriff Rick Staly said Lanning and Howard’s drug sales took place on library property.
“Through the investigations, our detectives confirmed allegations of drug sales being conducted at problematic areas inhabited by transients in what can only be described as an open-air drug market,” Staly said in a release.
In addition, Samantha Bovino was charged with the introduction of contraband into the Flagler County Jail.
Several suspicious mail documents were sent to an inmate at the jail and were turned over to SIU by an FCSO employee who thoroughly inspects all incoming and outgoing mail. Nine letters were intercepted between March 20, 2018 and April 13, 2018. Detectives suspected that the letters contained suboxone sublingual films concealed within the seals of the envelopes.
The evidence was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory for analysis and confirmed its contents. A fingerprint analysis also confirmed that the mail was sent by Bovino to George Wood, who was an inmate at the jail at the time.
“Selling drugs in Flagler County is one way to get the attention of law enforcement and our detectives did a fantastic job on following up on all leads and getting these poison peddlers off the streets,” Staly said. “Thank you to all of the members of the community who followed our ‘see something, say something’ initiative and notified us when they saw suspicious activity or knew of drug deals in our county.”
