Gabrielle Russon
Gov. Ron DeSantis is highlighting the state’s fight against fentanyl as he announced that a new program has led to nearly 2,100 arrests and seized enough drugs to kill one-third of the U.S. population.
“These results have saved the lives of many Floridians,” DeSantis said during a press conference as he touted 200 drug investigations that removed 485 pounds of fentanyl and 63,000 fentanyl pills from the streets.
In 2023, Florida established the SAFE program (State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication), which provides reimbursement for law enforcement’s overtime, travel costs, equipment costs for investigations and more.
DeSantis said he hopes to push for more funding for the SAFE program during the next Legislative Session. The program’s previous budget was $13 million, but $7.7 has been spent so far, DeSantis said.
“That may be enough to eke through the fiscal year, but it’s not going to be enough to continue the momentum and continue to save lives,” DeSantis said. “And so we will be recommending when I roll out my budget later this year, additional funding for the SAFE Program.”
Officials are also taking advantage of being able to bring elevated criminal charges against drug dealers.
“We’ve charged nearly 50 drug dealers with first-degree murder for dealing deadly doses of drugs on our street,” said Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma.
The number of drug deaths in Florida has declined, according to an annual report conducted by the Florida Medical Examiners and released earlier this year.
All drug-related deaths dipped by 5%. But opioid-related deaths dropped even further, falling 11% in 2023 when compared to 2022, the report said.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in Florida that has not been impacted in one way or another,” DeSantis said Tuesday about the devastating effect fentanyl has on society. “This is a huge business for drug cartels. People on the street can make a lot of money selling it. And this is something that we have to take very, very seriously from a law enforcement perspective.”
