TAMPA A 20-year-old man arrested in June as part of a roundup of suspected gang members has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. ...more

January 2, 2008

TAMPA - Two men accused of selling hydrocodone over the Internet were indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday. ...more

December 21, 2007

SARASOTA COUNTY - Deputies raided two marijuana grow houses this week, both of them on large acreages east of Interstate 75. ...more

December 20, 2007

Last year, Richard Paey ate a cold Thanksgiving dinner at Tomoka Correctional Institution with his cellmate, a convicted murderer who had killed a previous cellmate. ...more

November 23, 2007

When investigators from a Tampa-based operation seized 27 tons of cocaine from two ships, they hit one of Colombia's most powerful drug organizations, the Norte del Valle Cartel, a federal prosecutor said today. ...more

November 21, 2007

A man tied to two ships seized with 27 tons of cocaine in 2004 was arrested Sunday in Colombia and is expected to be extradited and tried in federal court in Tampa. The federal government has designated him as one of the top 30 international drug traffickers in the world and he has worked for a man on the FBI's 10-Most Wanted List. ...more

November 20, 2007

GULFPORT "Brave" merchants, visionary artists and people desperate for homes with personality chased away the drug dealers and vandals. ...more

November 2, 2007

SEBRING — A Sebring woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of drug trafficking and forgery for using her employment at a local doctor's office to fax fake prescription papers to local Walgreens to obtain prescription medication. Ira Lorena Bareno, 28, of 1629 Lagrange Ave., entered a no-contest plea to charges that she obtained the drug Vicoprofen illegally. Bareno, who is currently out on bond, has a Dec. 17 sentencing date set before Judge Peter Estrada in the Highlands County Courthouse. ...more

November 2, 2007

Developing a statewide gang-reduction strategy will be the focus of a high-level state panel formed Thursday by Attorney General Bill McCollum. ...more

October 26, 2007

LAKELAND – Polk County sheriff's deputies busted two marijuana grow houses in north Lakeland Thursday, made three arrests and took more than 600 plants off the street, authorities said. The sheriff's office received information Thursday about the two suspected drug houses, a sheriff's release said. Undercover Polk County detectives and members of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force went to 1425 Hammock Shade Drive off Old Polk City Road and 8423 Tocoi Path off Kathleen Road to check out the tip. ...more

October 12, 2007