MAJOR DRUG RING DISMANTLED FOLLOWING MULTI-AGENCY INVESTIGATION; $285,225 IN HEROIN AND METH SEIZED
October 11, 2019
WALTON/OKALOOSA/SANTA ROSA COUNTIES, Fla— A drug ring supplying meth and heroin to three Northwest Florida Counties has been dismantled thanks to the work of VICE/Narcotics Investigators across multiple agencies.
The multi-agency effort has resulted in four arrests along with the recovery of firearms, large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and cash in Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa Counties.
Wednesday, October 9th, the hard work behind this investigation came to fruition when narcotics officers and task force members served an arrest warrant at Pelican Beach Resort in Destin and executed a search warrant at Sea Cabins in Miramar Beach leading to the arrest of two drug dealers involved in a massive drug trafficking ring.
Daniel “Ryan” Taylor, 38, of Fort Walton Beach and Purnell Jones, 43, of Birmingham, Alabama were arrested Wednesday. In addition, William Earl Deaund Moore, 37, also of Birmingham was arrested early on in the investigation. Willie Shontelle Matthews, 40, also of Birmingham, Alabama was also arrested.
The charges for these four men include trafficking in heroin, trafficking in methamphetamine, weapons charges, and resisting arrest. Jones was also wanted out of Alabama for Parole Violation.
Throughout the entire investigation, case agents recovered more than 2,165 grams of heroin and approximately 341 grams of methamphetamine, four firearms, and more than $55,000 in U.S. Currency. The street value of heroin seized exceeded $270,000 and $14,600 in meth.
These individuals are responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine across the tri-county area. These cases are successful through the hard work of case agents and partnerships between the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, along with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Pensacola and Northwest Florida High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Group (HIDTA).