TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- The Leon county Sheriff's office is calling its anti-gang operation a success. And it's all thanks to a multi-agency effort called Operation Legion.
It started in August and took eight weeks, resulting in 58 arrests. Officials confiscated a number of drugs, including synthetic marijuana and flakka. They say they also took two firearms and nearly $9,000 in contraband.
Officials say the whole point of the operation was to prevent crime and drug activity in Leon County.
The Leon County Sheriff's Office says the operation was successful, and they plan to do it again in the future.
Operational Highlights
During this operation, members of the Leon County Jail Gang Unit conducted 38 interviews involving 35 gang members. These gang members represented the following gangs: Bloods, Gangster Disciples, Northside, Holton Street, Hit Squad, Skinheads, Aryan Brotherhood, RB3, Nortenos, Folk Nation, Crips, Solo Boys, Slutty Boys, and Sovereign Citizens.
A total of 58 arrests were made during this operation, for over 170 criminal charges. These arrests included at least 4 individuals arrested for homicide related charges.
Directed Patrol Units worked one night operation a week, varying from Tuesday nights to Friday nights. On Wednesday, September 9, 2015, detectives observed what appeared to be drug transactions taking place in the area of Americana Street. Detectives and Investigators made contact with several subjects in the area. As a result of our contacts, two felony arrests were made, 247.7 grams of synthetic cannabis, 44 grams of flakka, 12 grams of cannabis, 1 gram of crack and a 9mm semiautomatic handgun were seized.
As a result of working with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, juvenile curfew and probation checks were conducted. These checks resulted in the arrest of a Hit Squad gang member who is the primary suspect in a drive-by shooting. The victim of this shooting was a testifying witness to a local homicide. On a second occasion another Hit Squad member was taken into custody within hours of the State Attorney’s Office direct filing Grand Theft Auto charges on him.
Through Operation LEGION, LCSO began new partnerships with Leon County Office of Intervention and Detention (County Probation/Pretrial) and the Florida Department of Corrections Probation. These partnerships resulted in weekly checks of offenders in our community who have court ordered sanctions . These checks are yielding tangible results.
One of these probation searches resulted in probable cause for a search warrant for the offender’s residence. The search warrant resulted in the seizure of 143 grams of cannabis, $8,944.00 cash, and a handgun.
Results:
• 58 arrest
• 48 Arrest Warrants Served
SEIZURES
• 247 grams of synthetic marijuana
• 28 gram of marijuana
• 46 gram of Flakka
• 9 grams of cocaine
•2 firearm
• $8,900 US Currency
Sheriff Mike Wood stated, “We would like to thank all of our state, local, and federal partners who participated in this operation. Moving forward, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office is committed to the continual inter-agency cooperation that made this operation a success. Partnerships and working together is the key.”
