West Volusia Drug Dealers Swept Up In 'Operation Crack of Dawn'

Date Added: May 17, 2017 12:55 pm

Andrew Gant
Public Information Office

WEST VOLUSIA DRUG DEALERS SWEPT UP IN ‘OPERATION CRACK OF DAWN’

For months, Volusia County sheriff’s detectives have been targeting street-level drug dealers on the west side of the county – working off of tips and complaints from the community.

On Tuesday, those months of hard work and undercover investigation paid off in a series of arrests of dealers of cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

Tuesday’s sweep across the DeLand and Deltona areas, part of a special operation with the West Volusia Narcotics Task Force and Deltona Narcotics Enforcement Team, targeted more than 30 individuals with arrest warrants issued as a result of undercover VCSO investigations. Sixteen people were arrested in the “Operation Crack of Dawn” round-up, with nine others previously arrested in the days leading up to it.

“We will continue to come after these drug dealers who are peddling poison on our streets, destroying the lives of their customers and disrupting our quality of life in Volusia County,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “They can run, and they can hide, but we will find them – we won’t stop looking.”

In addition to the 25 arrests, 12 more suspects are still wanted on outstanding warrants related to street-level drug sales.

Searches of some of the defendants’ homes on Tuesday led to the discovery of drugs, cash, weapons and ammunition. One of the guns, found at the home of 27-year-old Jamar Booker, was a .45 caliber Beretta handgun previously reported stolen in Volusia County.

Another stolen gun was recovered in the lead-up to the operation, during a search on Monday. That house, the home of convicted felons Frank Taylor, 48, and Sanmeshia Johnson, 29, also contained Morphine, Oxycodone, Adderall, Suboxone and Dilaudid along with meth and marijuana. Johnson was already on probation for selling drugs.

A search at the home of 32-year-old Tiberius Dixon, another suspect already on probation for drug sales, revealed cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana.

George Dukes, 36, got caught up in the operation twice. Earlier this month, he was arrested after a search warrant at his home revealed crack cocaine, Dilaudid tablets and Ecstasy. Then on Tuesday, he was caught after running from deputies who spotted him in DeLand. When he fled out of view, he tried to ditch a black bag containing crack cocaine and Hydromophone – which deputies initially saw in his hand and later found hidden behind a small children’s ball nearby.

Tuesday’s arrests included:

• Dijion Bailey, 22 (DOB 6/19/1994)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area (3 counts

• Bobby Barber, 46 (DOB 8/13/1970)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area (2 counts)

• Jamar Booker, 27 (DOB 2/7/1990)
  Sale of Oxycodone within 1,000 feet of a specified area

• George Dukes, 36 (DOB 12/16/1980)
  Possession of crack cocaine
  Possession of Hydromorphone

• Eileen Foley, 55 (DOB 5/10/1961)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area (2 counts)

• Terrence Gray, 32 (DOB 12/27/1984)
  Sale of a Schedule II substance within 1,000 feet of a specified area

• Jose Hidalgo, 42 (DOB 1/29/1974)
  Sale of cocaine (2 counts)
  Resisting a law enforcement officer without violence

• Jeffrey Koster, 57 (DOB 3/24/1959)
  Sale of a controlled substance

• Keith Kratzer, 34 (DOB 5/11/1982)
  Sale of heroin within within 1,000 feet of a specified area (2 counts)
  Sale of a controlled substance

• Javier Perez Maldonado, 56 (DOB 11/29/1960)
  Sale of cocaine (2 counts)

• Tyson Ross, 27 (DOB 10/15/1989)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area (2 counts)

• Marco Selph, 33 (DOB 7/17/1983)
  Sale of a Schedule II substance within 1,000 feet of a specified area

• Blaine Stafford, 36 (DOB 8/19/1980)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area

• Sylvania Thompson, 43 (DOB 2/6/1974)
  Sale of heroin within 1,000 feet of a specified area

• Tommie Toliver, 32 (DOB 1/26/1984)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area (3 counts)

• Lawrence Wesley, 49 (DOB 4/4/1967)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area

Those arrested prior to the round-up included:

• Cordero Clark, 23 (DOB 3/8/1994)
  Sale of a Schedule II substance within 1,000 feet of a specified area
   
• Tiberius Dixon, 32 (DOB 8/18/1984)
  Possession of cannabis with intent to distribute (2 counts)
  Possession/use of drug paraphernalia
   
• Dewyatt Fossett, 26 (DOB 5/1/1991)
  Sale of a Schedule II substance within 1,000 feet of a specified area (2 counts)
  Possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana
   
• Brenda Harvey, 52 (DOB 6/19/1964)
  Possession of cocaine
  Possession of a weapon by a convicted felon
  Carrying a concealed weapon
  Possession of drug paraphernalia
   
• Sanmeshia Johnson, 29 (DOB 4/16/1988)
  Possession of a weapon by a convicted felon
• Chrishaud Mackey, 22 (DOB 5/15/1984)
  Sale of a Schedule II substance
   
• Frank Taylor, 48 (DOB 5/7/1969)
  Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
  Possession of Suboxone
  Possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana
  Possession of methamphetamine
  Possession of Oxycodone
  Possession of Morphine
  Possession of Hydromorphone
  Possession of a Schedule II substance
  Possession of drug paraphernalia
   
• James Whites, 30 (DOB 11/25/1986)
  Possession of Hydromorphone
   
• George Dukes, 36 (who was arrested again Tuesday)
  Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area

Several other suspects will be arrested on similar charges in the future.