Daytona Beach, FL - Police say they have identified 43 suspects out of 70, with 22 arrested in one day.
And one of those men was arrested not too far from the press conference concerning Daytona's latest drug bust, as it happened.
Today (May 23rd), Daytona Beach police announced the results of a six-month large scale drug bust known as "Operation Tone Setter," which targets street-level narcotics dealers working in the "open air," according to Daytona Beach Police Department's Public Information Officer, Messod Bendayan.
Bendayan says the operation received the name "Tone Setter" as it's meant to "set the tone" against those who want to deal drugs in the World's Most Famous Beach.
#BREAKINGNEWS: @DaytonaBchPD ID 42 suspects and have charged 20 in a large scale drug bust called Operation "Tone Setter"
— News Daytona Beach (@NewsDaytonaBch) May 23, 2019
Police say there are a total of 70 suspects in the entire operation. pic.twitter.com/K6DsLzctvf
“The actions of these defendants directly impacted the quality of life and safety for the citizens of Daytona Beach,” said DBPD Chief Craig Capri.
And the total, as it stands now, is 70 defendants that police have tried to arrest or serve warrants on.
43 of them came today, with 21 in custody originally before DBPD's announcement today.
But, as DBPD held the press conference, police arrested one of the suspects just down the street on Orange Avenue, according to Chief Capri.
That brought the count up to 22.
12 of those 22 were arrested earlier today, while 10 of them were already in custody when police filed charges.
All but two of them, Kevious Green and Trinity Jones, will face some sort of drug-related charge.
Police say 27 arrests, 24 felonies and three misdemeanors came before today, with DBPD Crime Suppression Team officers making those arrests after executing 11 search warrants.
The majority of the suspects are also convicted felons, with almost all of them having been arrested in the past, excluding one, Jeffrey Ellingham, who was charged with possession of paraphernalia and marijuana over 20 grams.
36 of the suspects are males with seven females in the mix. That's not including 27 arrested before today, who Daytona Beach has yet to identify.
27 suspects that they have arrested or attempted to arrest are facing cocaine-related charges.
Four of them are also facing heroin-related charges, along with three charges related to synthetic cannabis and two face charges related to cannabis.
Throughout the operation, CST officers have seized almost 700 grams of different drugs during Operation Tone Setter.
That includes:
Also seized was $340 in counterfeit currency, $19,189 in legitimate currency. Seven weapons were also taken by police, three of which were stolen before their recovery.
But the most important thing, according to Chief Capri, was the weapons that were recovered.
"One gun on the street, in the hands of the wrong person, can be devastating," said Capri. "Can you imagine seven guns out there that can be used against not only the police, but the public?"
Chief Capri also said that there doesn't seem to be a ringleader involved, seeing as most of those who were arrested were lone street-level drug dealers.
And according to Capri, the Daytona Beach Police Department doesn't plan to stop here.
"You can put the word out, this is our city, and we're going to take it back from the drug dealers and the criminals and we ain't stopping," said Capri. "If you come here to commit crime, you're finished."
You can find the full board with names of those identified in the case below.
