Orange County Sheriff John Mina announced Tuesday the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Narcotics Unit had broken up a drug trafficking ring selling fentanyl laced with animal tranquilizers in what was dubbed Operation Moscow Mule.
Law enforcement made 12 undercover buys from the ring. Deputies also located the ring’s supplier in New Jersey and worked with a drug unit in Volusia County to intercept a shipment of half a kilogram of fentanyl, preventing it from reaching its intended destination in the area around Oak Ridge and Orange Blossom Trail in south Orange County, according to Narcotics Unit Captain Darryl Glanford.
The bust resulted in the arrest of 14 members of the ring, including its leader, 33-year-old Jazzmeen Ashley Underdue Montanez, authorities said. She has been arrested on charges of trafficking in fentanyl and conspiracy to traffick fentanyl, each of which has a 25- year minimum sentence.
Some of her other charges include money laundering, sale or delivery of fentanyl, conspiracy to deliver fentanyl and conspiracy to deliver cocaine. Montanez had previously been arrested for possession of marijuana in 2019, according to court records.
A 15th suspect, Alexander Pavlov, was the only identified suspect who has not yet been arrested. Authorities believe Pavlov has fled to Russia.
Glanford says the area has had over 150 overdoses, nine of which were fatal, between 2022 to the present.
The fentanyl sold by the ring was cut with the animal tranquilizer Xylazine, which extends the high caused by fentanyl and is resistant to Narcan, the substance used to treat and reverse opioid overdoses.
“Perhaps the scariest thing about Xylazine and its prevalence in street drugs here and throughout the country is that it is not perceptive to Narcan,” Mina said.
Due to being a sedative, Xylazine is unaffected by narcan, increasing the chance of fatal overdoses. It also causes necrosis of the flesh at injection points, leading to it being called “the zombie drug.”
Mina said there were 3 deaths related to Xylazine in Orange County so far this year, and two Xylazine-related deaths in 2022.
“We can’t stress enough how important this is to let our residents and visitors know the dangerous effects of Xylazine in our community,” Mina said.
Eighty percent of the fentanyl recently seized by the Sheriff’s Office was laced with Xylazine. The rate was 7% in 2018, according to Glanford.
“Xylazine is here to stay,” Glanford said. “It’s not a fad. This is a growing trend that’s probably going to be here for a few years.
Glanford stressed the importance of letting paramedics and law enforcement help when an overdose occurs.
“When that [an overdose] happens, you need to call the paramedics,” Glanford said. “I know a lot of times users don’t want to get the paramedics involved because law enforcement is going to show up with them, but at the point where you’re using the Narcan and it’s having no effect, you probably have a tranquilizer issue with your partner and you need to call the paramedics to get them some help.”
Glanford says the Sheriff’s Office has already dismantled similarly-sized groups dealing in Xylazine-laced drugs in the same area.