 soundcheck. Everybody good? Well good morning everybody. On behalf of Sheriff Chris Knocow and the men and women of the Pasco Sheriff's Office, welcome to Pasco County this morning. My name is Jeff Harrington. I'm the Chief Deputy. And what I'd like to do is, before we turn it over to Mr. Hanberg and Special Agent and Charge Walker of the FBI, what I'd like to do is just talk broadly about some of the things that have occurred leading up to today. In Pasco County, we're incredibly fortunate. We work very, very hard to develop and cultivate relationships across the entire spectrum of law enforcement. We do that with our city police departments, our state partners, our county partners, and our federal partners. And today, what you will hear about is a case which is a perfect illustration of what can happen and what the good outcomes can be when law enforcement works together to a mutually supportive end. And in that regard, this is a case that preceded us by several months, came to a culmination a week or so ago. And what it is, is the transcended the jurisdictional boundaries of Pasco County. And it's really reflective of the fact that when we engage in relationships and we work jointly, we can work in a way that put people in jail. And wherever they commit the crime, if they victimize people of Pasco County, we will find them, we will put them in jail. And this is a fine reflection of that. So without further ado, what I'd like to do is take a moment and just introduce Mr. Roger Hanberg. He is the state US attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Colonel Harrington, for that introduction. My name is Roger Hanberg. I'm the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. As the United States Attorney, I have the privilege of serving as the chief federal law enforcement officer for 35 counties in Florida, including Pasco and Pinellas County. And I'm honored to be here today with several of my law enforcement partners, Colonel Harrington with the Pasco Sheriff's Office, special agent in charge, David Walker with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Postal Inspection Team Leader James Galeel. I'm proud to be here today to discuss how these local and federal investigators working in partnership have dismantled a major drug trafficking organization that operated in Pasco and Pinellas counties. This organization was led by Daniel Luis Roberto Carrillo. For a period of over a year, Carrillo and his conspirators distributed cocaine and methamphetamine in this community. This conspiracy was a family affair. Of the 13 members of the conspiracy who've been federally indicted, seven of them are related. Carrillo was the leader of the conspiracy. One of his key partners was a significant other, Betsy Trinidad. She worked with Carrillo to sell cocaine and methamphetamine in this community and to supply other drug dealers. Every part of the drug trafficking organization involves someone who is related to either Carrillo or Trinidad. For starters, both of their mothers were part of the drug trafficking organization. Trinidad's mother, Jacqueline Navarro, was a drug dealer who Carrillo and Trinidad supplied with cocaine and methamphetamine. On five occasions, Navarro sold cocaine to an undercover officer. And on another occasion, she was found in possession with intent to distribute of more than 400 grams of methamphetamine. Carrillo's mother, Lucy Carrillo Gonzalez, she played a different role in the conspiracy. She assisted Carrillo in ordering cocaine for the organization from two of Carrillo's other relatives, Georgia Lease, Natal Vasquez, and Yannet O'Neill Santana Vasquez. Those two relatives served as sources of supply of cocaine for the organization, while another relative, Johann Aloy Delvalle Carrillo, was responsible for mailing a parcel of cocaine from Puerto Rico to be distributed by the organization. But this drug trafficking organization was not limited to relatives of Carrillo, Trinidad, and them. The other six members of the organization fall into two categories. Two of them, Jennifer Hanna and John Barrett, were the source of methamphetamine supply for the organization. The other four defendants were local drug dealers who distributed drugs obtained from the organization that were sold in Pasco and Pinellas County. For over a year, this organization trafficked in significant quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine. Dangerous drugs that were distributed in Pasco and Pinellas counties. But not any longer. Through the excellent work of the investigative agencies on this case, 13 defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury. 12 of the 13 have been arrested and agents are out looking for the final 13th defendant to arrest him as well. Nine of these defendants are residents of Pasco County. Two of them, including Carrillo and Trinidad are residents of Hernando County. One defendant is a resident of Pinellas County and one is a resident of Puerto Rico. This has been a comprehensive investigation. The defendants who have been indicted include members at every level of the conspiracy. The leader, his key partners, the sources of supply and those who facilitated ordering drugs from the sources of supply and local drug dealers who distributed drugs in Pasco and Pinellas counties. The arrests in this case have dismantled this drug trafficking organization and have stopped the flow of cocaine and methamphetamine that were being distributed by it. During this investigation and in the takedown that occurred locally here on January 18th, investigators have seized over a kilogram and a half of cocaine and over a kilogram of methamphetamine. They also have seized 10 firearms, including seven from Jennifer Hanna's residence, two from Georgia Lease Vasquez's residence and one from James Perry O'Neill. This great work by law enforcement has undoubtedly saved lives. According to the most recent annual report from the Florida medical examiners for 2021 cocaine and methamphetamine ranked second and third in Florida in causing drug deaths. By stopping large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from being distributed in Pasco and Pinellas counties, the investigative agencies on this case have protected everyone in this community from those dangerous drugs. This is a complex investigation involving a drug trafficking organization that transported large amounts of drugs over the course of more than a year. This type of case requires meticulous work by excellent investigators to put together the evidence that will support prosecutions to reduce the supply of illicit narcotics in our community. The investigative agencies that work on these type of cases, well, they must be of the highest caliber and they must have the resources, expertise and commitment to conduct the type of long term enterprise investigations that are needed to disrupt drug trafficking at its source into dismantled drug trafficking organizations. And that is exactly what we have with the agencies who have worked on this investigation. I want to commend them for working together as a team to develop the evidence in this case that has led to the federal indictment. Through their excellent work in partnership, 13 defendants have been federally charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. 11 of those defendants have also been federally charged with distribution offenses related to distributions or possessions with intent to distribute of either cocaine or methamphetamine. Those federal distribution charges are based on controlled purchases made by undercover officers or seizures made during stops by law enforcement. The allegations contained in the indictment charging the defendants with these crimes and the allegations that I've mentioned here today that are set forth in court documents. Well, they're just that their allegations in each of the 13 defendants in this case is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. These federal charges are serious. Seven of the defendants are facing up to 20 years in federal prison. One is facing a minimum mandatory of five years up to 40 years in federal prison and five, including Carillo and Trinidad are facing a minimum mandatory of 10 years in federal prison up to life. This case is a great example of how local and federal investigators are able to effectively work together to protect our community by disrupting drug trafficking at its source. I'm here today to commend the agencies on this case for their outstanding work on it. Through their partnership, they have protected this community by dismantling a drug trafficking organization that is alleged to be responsible for distributing large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in this community. Let this be a message to anyone who illegally conspires to traffic and cocaine or methamphetamine in this community. As you can see by the law enforcement agencies here today, you will be investigated. And if you send deadly drugs into this community, our agents and investigators will use every lawful tool to hold you accountable for your crimes, no matter where you live or where you operate. And if you have violated federal law, the United States Attorney's Office will seek to pursue charges against you and federal court. We are united together in our mission to keep this community safe. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Special Agent in Charge, David Walker. Good morning, everyone. I'm David Walker, Special Agent in Charge of the Tampa Field Office. I'd like to start off by thanking Colonel Harrington, United States Attorney Hanberg, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Team Leader James Jeal. The FBI values partnerships. We succeed because of these partnerships and today's success is absolutely a result of a partnership. It was a true team effort. Our collaboration ultimately leads to protecting our community from threats, particularly drug trafficking organizations. This group prayed and profited on the addicted in Pinellas and Pasco County for at least 10 years. With a shared commitment and mission of protecting the American people, Pasco County Sheriff's Detectives, FBI, Safe Street Task Force, the United States Postal Inspection Service work jointly to disrupt and dismantle the Carillo family drug trafficking organization. Some of the most difficult cases we work are multi jurisdiction, multi subject, particularly when they're crossing state lines, particularly when they're involved involving postal inspection. And that's why an absolute team approach is required. And that's what today's success is all about. By leveraging our collective resources to include surveillance undercover buys US mail interception over the course of a two year investigation, we ended this group's dangerous grip on our community. We know there's still a lot of work to do to rid our neighborhood of this kind of crime, but this investigation highlights what can be achieved when federal state and local law enforcement work together with diligence and dedication. We work every day with one goal in mind. Combating violence to ensure your safety and security. Thank you. We'd be happy to take some questions. If anyone has any questions, I wanted to just ask how this drug ring got started. Um, you know, obviously they're all know each other. What made them say we're going to this kind of business? Um, I don't know if I'm in a position here today to answer that question. Um, you know, one of the breaks that happened in this case and you can see it in the court documents that were filed and in the indictment was a parcel was intercepted coming from Puerto Rico. Um, that had cocaine in it and one of the things I really have always appreciated about the Pasco Sheriff's Office, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the postal inspectors is they do what you would expect them to do with that information, which is they then followed up on that to see where the package was going and then based on that followed up on the investigation. Um, and over the course of over a year, they then did all the things that Special Agent Walker talked about in terms of trying to put this case together. Was that just a routine inspection that has done every, I mean, I don't know how it works, every package that comes from Puerto Rico or was there a reason they were looking for it? I don't know the specifics as to how that package came to their attention. Um, I don't, I wouldn't say there's routine inspections of packages. I'd have to ask the postal inspector about that, but I don't know how it came to their attention. Mr. Hamburg, I'm not sure this is a question for you or SAC Walker, but I'd like to know if this is related to the search and arrest warrants that were orchestrated or carried out on Friday at Post Road, that is in the area of Lake Carl Road and Gracie Lane in Hudson, and if so, is that the culmination of the work that went into these arrests? It is. Could you, please? Sure. So could you explain to me how, how all of that unfolded on Friday and what that, what was going on there Friday? So, uh, the, the plan is generally when we, when we take down a large organization, we're trying to make a number of simultaneous arrests. Like what we don't want to do is arrest ones and twos and then have people running in the wind. So that's why you saw sort of a, a concerted larger package because we were just sort of conducting all those arrests and all the required searches all at once, which is why you saw such a big presence with a bunch of, of teams from multi agencies because we brought everybody in to try to, try to do it all at once. And were there multiple locations that were served that day? Could you explain that? There were. There were. And so when we get legal process from the United States Attorney's Office, we're going to try to do those searches, we're going to try to do those arrests all, all at once. If we only relied on just Tampa FBI's resources, we wouldn't be able to do that and that's why the partnerships up here is, is so important because, you know, particularly TASCO, TASCO played a huge role in supporting it was a team effort. So, you know, I'm hoping that you can put this into perspective for me because we see, you know, drug arrests all the time. How big of a deal is this? So I would say this, when you look at the numbers, the volume, you're not going to go, wow, this is the biggest arrest I've ever seen, right? But when you look at the, the effect on the community, it is a big deal, right? And if you talk to the people of TASCO, neighbors, this has been an ongoing problem. So it's not always the numbers, it's, it's the effect on the community and I think it's a big deal. When it comes to, first of all, you said there was, I think you said there was a person who was still outstanding. Can you tell us who that person is? And also how many arrests were made on that day that Jeff referred to? So we've got 12 of 13. Most were made on that, on that Friday. There is one for the reasons of, let's not say who he is until we pick him up. We're actively trying to arrest that individual. There was a, I believe, a plan this morning. So hopefully within 24 hours we'll have him in custody. Chief Deputy, I'm just wondering if you can just explain TASCO County has, you know, an enormous problem on its hands. We've covered it a hundred times with drugs. A, just I'd be curious to ask how big of a dent this makes. And then B, I'd be curious as to how much, you know, you still have ahead of you here? Well there's always work to do. And I think Special Agent Walker really hit it on the head when he talks about the cascading effects of taking a network apart like that. And so there are different synergies that different bad actors are able to utilize to leverage this criminal network. And I think when you're able to basically deconstruct that and put those people in jail, it has a number of second and third order effects on the quality of life in Pasco County. So we'll continue to work with our partners in a task force arrangement with the FBI and other federal entities and also our local partners, state partners, and we'll continue to hunt these people down and put them in jail when they break the lock. And I think this is really reflective and indicative of what a joint operation can do when you have the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the Postal Inspector Service, and you have local law enforcement all working together. There are going to be good outcomes, and I think there will be more good outcomes to take place. Do you know how many, how they found their customers, who they were telling to, with this county wide? Were they meeting people at stores and asking cold calling people or do they have a network that they developed? So at this point we're going to be limited to what's been disclosed in the court documents. And so I would expect some of that information will come out as this case proceeds in court. And there's a number of different reasons for that. One is, you know, at least as far as we're concerned, you know, this investigation is not over. You know, this was a significant law enforcement action that was taken in this case. But one of these things that I know these investigators are going to do is they're then going to follow up on the search warrants. The indictment was done prior to the execution of the search warrants that we've talked about, but they'll need to process the evidence from that, and they'll need to follow up on those leads. And so I think it'd be premature at this point to provide some additional details. But thank you. Well, thank you very much. We really appreciate your time. Thank you.