LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested dozens of people in a multi-agency investigation into a fentanyl trafficking operation out of Lakeland.
The sheriff’s office said “Operation Rooske,” which first began in January 2021, resulted in the arrests of 64 people and shut down two businesses that were used to launder money from drug sales in Polk and Osceola counties.
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Sheriff Grady Judd said the businesses, Rooske Fish Bait & Tackle and Rooske Motorcycle Parts and Accessories, were run by a married couple, 43-year-old Hector Baez Torres and 41-year-old Pilar Rivera of Lakeland.
“We find it ironic that while these businesses appear legitimate, this is how they washed their money from their dope deals,” Judd said.
According to the sheriff’s office, most of the people arrested in the operation were buyers.
“We started this investigation arresting people that were buying drugs from their dealers and distributors,” Judd said. “We saw these folks. They were also entrepreneurs. Many of them would buy five bags for $25, maybe 10 bags. And then they would use some of it and sell part of it so even though they were paying $5 a bag, they would sell it for a profit, at least enough to pay for their drug deal.”
The sheriff said detectives were shocked when they saw these street level buyers were turning out thousands of tiny bags of fentanyl a day.
“We saw that this immediately went across county lines,” Judd said.
Detectives noted that as they arrested more suspects, their higher ups would not allow them to deal the drugs any more.
“We quit arresting the street-level people because it was putting heat on our ability to move up the chain of command,” the sheriff said.
However, the street level arrests allowed investigators to build a case against the seven main offenders, whose names and charges are listed below:
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Hector Baez Torres, 43, Lakeland
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Racketeering (F1), Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (F1), Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3).
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Pilar Rivera, 41, Lakeland (Hector’s wife)
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Jeimylee Baez Rivera, 23, Auburndale (Daughter of Hector and Pilar)
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Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (F1), Trafficking in Cocaine 28g or more (F1), Trafficking in Fentanyl 28g or more (F1), Possession of Oxycodone (F1), Possessing a Structure for Drugs with Minor Present (F1), Negligent Child Abuse W/O Bodily Harm (F3), Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3), Possession of Marijuana Resin (F3), Possession of Marijuana (M1), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), and Possession of Prescription Drug without Prescription (M2).
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Miguel Castro Rivera, 24, Auburndale (boyfriend of Jeimylee)
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Armed Trafficking in Cocaine (FL), Racketeering (F1), Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (F1), Trafficking in Fentanyl 14g or more (F1), Armed Trafficking in Fentanyl 28g or more (F1), Possessing a Structure for Drugs with Minor Present (F1), Use of Firearm during Commission of Felony Offense (F2), Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3), Negligent Child Abuse W/O Bodily Harm (F3), Possession of Marijuana Resin (F3), Possession of Oxycodone (F3), Possession of Marijuana (M1), Possession of Altered Firearm (M1), Resisting without Violence (M1), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), and Possession of Prescription Drug without Prescription (M2).
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Luis Ramos Delgado, 48, Lakeland (boyfriend of Wilma)
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Racketeering (F1), Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (F1), Trafficking in Fentanyl 4G<14G (F1), Trafficking in Fentanyl 14G<28G (F1), Trafficking in Fentanyl 28g or more (F1), and Unlawful Use of 2-Way Communication Device (F3).
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Wilma Fuentes Laureano, 56, Lakeland (girlfriend of Luis)
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Casimiro Bidot Del Valle, 59, Kissimmee (drug supplier to the organization)
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Trafficking in Fentanyl 28g or more (F1), Trafficking in Cocaine over 200 grams (F1), Possession of Firearm by Convicted Felon (F2), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1).
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According to the sheriff, Rivera would handle the accounting for both their legitimate business and the drug operation while Baez Torres would order the drugs from suppliers Casimiro Bidot, 26, and Wilfredo Feliciano, 59, of Kissimmee.
Judd said Baez Torres kept his hands off the sales and delegated the distribution to Miguel Castro, 24, of Auburndale. Castro was said to be Baez Torres’ right-hand man and the boyfriend of the couple’s daughter Jeimylee Baez Rivera.
While discussing the younger couple’s role in the drug operation, Judd mentioned that Baez Rivera and Castro packaged drugs in a room across from a playroom that belonged to their 2-year-old and 4-year-old children.
“You think it’s a problem?” Judd said. “I know it’s a problem.”
When deputies went to serve a search warrant on Castro’s home, the suspect tried to hide in the attic where he kept a gun, but after an hour-and-a-half standoff, he surrendered to deputies and was arrested.
“Miguel told us, upon his arrest, 30 years for a dollar,” “That’s what he would tell us over and over and over after he was arrested. He should’ve thought about that ahead of time. Then he would put his head in his hands and tell the detectives, ‘I can’t believe it. Thirty years, I’m gonna get. Thirty years for a dollar.’”
Another couple, 48-year-old Luis Ramos Delgado and 56-year-old Wilma Fuentes Laureano of Lakeland, was also accused of selling the narcotics for the operation.
Judd said Ramos Delgado was the main drug seller, but Fuentes Laureano would sell drugs whenever her boyfriend was not available, especially during his lunch breaks.
“Luis didn’t miss his meals,” the sheriff said. “Everything stopped while he had a lunch break, everything.”
In addition to the arrests, the investigation seized a total of $1,080,118.60 of assets from the Rooske Drug Operation, deputies said.
This included $475,348 in seized narcotics (fentanyl, marijuana, cocaine, and oxycodone), $12,270 in U.S. cash, five vehicles, two water vessels, an enclosed trailer, Rooske Bait Store and Rooske Motorcycle Shop merchandise, jewelry/electronics/firearms/designer apparel, bank accounts valued at $40,000, and liens on Baez Torres’ home.
Deputies also seized a pile of firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle painted to resemble a Louis Vitton design.
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Sheriff Grady Judd wielding the Louis Vuitton rifle (WFLA)
“Florida leads the nation in fentanyl seizures, and this case is yet another example of how Sheriff Grady Judd and his deputies are leaders in helping us remove deadly drugs from our streets,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “Working with Polk County deputies and FDLE, we were able to seize 742 grams of fentanyl in two counties. That is enough poison to kill 371,000 Floridians, and I have no doubt that this drug-interdiction operation saved lives.”
This is not the first time the Baez-Rivera family was in the news. 8 On Your Side previously spoke to Pilar Rivera after her 3-year-old grandson, J.D., was killed in a targeted shooting last March.
Authorities said the shooting did not appear related to the drug investigation. J.D. was also the son of the married couple’s other daughter, not the daughter arrested in the drug trafficking operation.
“In essence, this fentanyl trafficking organization was the family business,” Judd said. “The motorcycle shop and the bait shop were corrupt businesses that were used as a means for money laundering. Their customers weren’t involved; they had no idea what was going on. In fact, the owners tried to project a wholesome façade while conducting their criminal enterprise behind the scenes until it all came crashing down on them, thanks to the fantastic work by our detectives.”
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