One year after Florida’s State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (S.A.F.E.) program began, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Tuesday that 19 people were arrested locally for various drug-related offenses.
FDLE received a portion of the near $15 million allocated throughout the state after Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the program, which began July 1, 2023, and ended June 30, 2024.
“In January, FDLE partnered with the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the state attorney for the First Judicial Circuit, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Florida Highway Patrol to initiate a drug trafficking organization based out of Fort Walton Beach,” said FDLE Pensacola Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams…