Florida's SAFE program delivers record seizures of the deadly drug fentanyl
Orlando, Florida — In Orlando on September 2, 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (SAFE) grant program, during the two years of its duration, has delivered additional resources for law enforcement, takedowns of drug traffickers, and record seizures of the deadly drug fentanyl.
“It was great to be in Orlando this morning to highlight the result that the SAFE program has delivered throughout Florida. Two years in, the impact is clear: SAFE is boosting law enforcement resources, helping take down cartel operations, and driving record-breaking seizures of fentanyl and other deadly drugs,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I will be recommending additional SAFE funding this year, and the legislature should fully fund this essential program that is saving lives every day.”
In 2023, the SAFE grant program was established to provide law enforcement with funding needed to conduct large-scale drug operations across the state. This state-funded grant has allowed local law enforcement agencies to effectively fight against drug trafficking and get hundreds of pounds of deadly drugs off streets in Florida communities.
To date, 200 approved SAFE investigations led to 2,127 arrests, the seizure of 485 pounds of fentanyl, and more than 63,000 fentanyl pills — enough fentanyl to kill more than 100 million people.
In addition to the deadly drug fentanyl, the SAFE grant program has also helped seize:
• 545 pounds of cocaine
• More than 300 pounds of meth
• $4.6 million in cash
• More than 730 firearms
• More than 76 drug vehicles
“FDLE, alongside our sheriffs and police chiefs, are making Florida the least hospitable state in America for cartel activity,” said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass. “If you are pushing poison into Florida, FDLE will catch you, and take you to prison.”
SAFE Grant Program success stories:
• In Polk County, Sheriff Grady Judd’s team alongside Florida Department of Law Enforcement seized 64 pounds of fentanyl in one case this June—which is enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people—and arrested cartel members tied to both the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. This was the largest fentanyl seizure in the county’s history. Polk County alone has seized more than 25% of all fentanyl captured as a result of the SAFE program.
• Earlier this month, FDLE agents in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Fort Myers arrested multiple suspects that were part of a drug trafficking ring connected to a Mexican cartel. The coordinated takedown of these dangerous individuals, all on the same day, is a testament to the work of FDLE’s Special Agents.
• Earlier this month in Orlando, the FDLE arrested a high-level cartel member selling fentanyl and meth. FDLE agents were able to seize more than 4.4 pounds of fentanyl during the bust, which is enough to kill nearly one million Americans.
• In Orlando, the FDLE also arrested an illegal alien from Colombia—a former Colombian paramilitary leader responsible for cocaine trafficking and who had admitted to 29 murders.
• In South Florida, the FDLE dismantled a fentanyl-laced meth ring that used street dealers at motels to flood communities.
• Just weeks ago in the Panhandle, an illegal alien and Gulf Cartel human smuggler, previously deported twice, was arrested by FDLE and sentenced after being caught smuggling other illegal aliens from Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Columbia into the United States across the southern border while the Biden administration left the door open for him.
• In Orlando, the FDLE and Orange County Sheriff’s Office launched a multijurisdictional investigation known as Operation Burn Baby Burn that broke up a drug trafficking organization importing fentanyl from Mexico and California. Seventeen arrests were made, 6 pounds of fentanyl were seized, along with 4 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $1.5 million dollars. Enough fentanyl was seized to kill 1.3 million people.
• In Jacksonville, Operation Jacobs Ladder took down a Gulf Cartel pipeline sending monthly truckloads worth millions of dollars of cocaine, fentanyl, and meth into Northeast Florida.
• The FDLE and Jacksonville County Sheriff’s Office arrested 14 suspects, seized 164 pounds of cocaine and enough fentanyl to kill over one million Floridians. Over 75 pounds of other drugs were seized along with an entire tractor trailer and 13 guns.
• In Suwannee County, the FDLE worked with the sheriff’s office to seize enough fentanyl to kill the entire county 43 times over. In June of 2025, the FDLE and Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office seized enough fentanyl to wipe out the county’s entire population 43 times over.