Heroin ring dismantled after Volusia County's 'Operation Geronimo'
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - A 7-month joint investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office into heroin trafficking has culminated in a series of arrests and drug seizures on Tuesday, leaving the ringleaders and the supplier behind bars as a drug task force agents dismantled an organization whose heroin is suspected in several overdose deaths.
The sheriff's office says that the ringleaders and several members of the organization, which operated primarily in the Deltona and Orange City areas, were locked up Tuesday morning. They face several charges, ranging from conspiracy to traffic heroin to solicitation to deliver a controlled substance.
The ringleaders, 42-year-old Sergio Perez and 27-year-old Melanie Cunningham, were both arrested recently and together, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. They were stopped late night last week in Orange City. The stop revealed that Cunningham was in possession of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, Suboxone, cannabis and cannabis oil. Cunningham bailed out of jail, but was back in there again on Tuesday after receiving new charges.
Perez was also charged with possession of cannabis oil and booked into jail. He remained there without bond on several probation violations related to burglary and grand theft until receiving his new charges on Tuesday.
Detectives say that they also identified the organization’s source of supply, 44-year-old Roberto Segarra-Garcia of St. Cloud, who was already in custody Tuesday.
The following are the defendants in custody as of 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday:
- Roberto Segarra-Garcia, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Sergio Perez, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Melanie Cunningham, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Travis Carter, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Christopher Cuillo, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Adam Sullivan, solicitation to deliver a controlled substance
- Tina Montgomery, solicitation to deliver a controlled substance
- Keri Boucher, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance
- Kimberly Barker, solicitation to deliver a controlled substance
- Kenneth Angel, conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance