Huge Drug Bust in Pasco County, FL Yields $400K in Cash and Guns
Florida never ceases to amaze me with the crazy headlines that come out of the state, especially in Pasco County. It seems like whenever something strange or completely outlandish happens, it comes out of Pasco. For those who’ve lived there, they know there’s no shortage of drugs, debauchery, and addiction in the area. One of Pasco’s main stretches extends down U.S. Highway 19 and is littered with sketchy used car lots, bong shops, quickie-marts with drug dealers and homeless addicts loitering about, and strip clubs every few miles. This part of Pasco is definitely depressed and shows the scars our country’s drug crisis has left behind.
Recently, Pasco county made headlines again with a huge drug bust that resulted in federal agents seizing $400K in cash and guns after the culmination of an investigation into some local dealers who allegedly conspired to sell a kilo of heroin and hundreds of grams of fentanyl. One man, William Gaston, of Port Richey and Edwin Tyron Hill, of Holiday, FL were both indicted on charges of heroin and fentanyl distribution, while only Edwin Hill was charged with possession of firearms for drug trafficking. Nelson White, also of Holiday, was charged with conspiracy in the case as well.
All three men could potentially see a sentence of a maximum of life behind bars and luckily none of these drugs made it onto the streets of Pasco. Addiction runs so rampantly in the area, many, many people could and would have died as a result of the sales and use of these substances.
Pasco County is one county out of hundreds across the country dealing the drug crisis that’s currently in full swing. Along with fentanyl and heroin, meth, cocaine, and synthetic drugs have left their mark in Pasco, just as they have everywhere else in the nation. It’s not just an opioid problem anymore and it hasn’t been for some time. It’s an overall drug problem and the more we educate ourselves on the problem, the better.
This story is just one of many other stories just like it, coming from all over the United States. Almost every day there are huge busts resulting in massive quantities of guns and drugs being taken off the streets and luckily so. At least these raids take highly dangerous substances out of the hands of consumers who could potentially lose their lives from using them. Hopefully, if the drug supply starts to run out, another son will be saved, another daughter will stop selling herself on the streets, and another mother and father will be returned to their children.
Education and rehabilitation are our key ways out of this problem. There’s no drug that’s going to solve this problem…that’s too easy. We can’t medicate our way out of this crisis. We can’t diagnose our way out either. We need to choke off the drug supply, educate the public, and make workable treatment solutions available to anyone who needs them.
That’s the solution. So, what are we waiting for?
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