NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Six men ranging in age from 18 to 70 were arrested in a drug sting called Operation Behind the Tracks, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
The operation started in June along O’Neil Scott Road, off State Road 200.
“We got several complaints in this area — which led us to a do a little bit more investigation,” Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said.
Leeper said the investigation revealed three homes on the road were being used to run an organized cocaine business. According to investigators, one of the men was a supplier who would pick up the cocaine from an unknown person in Jacksonville and bring it back to Fernandina Beach, where it was sold. During the course of the investigation, narcotics detectives used confidential informants while conducting controlled drug buys. Once the drugs were sold, they were tested to make sure it was actually cocaine. When detectives gathered enough drug evidence, they secured arrest warrants, and then they called the Florida Highway Patrol, federal agents and Fernandina Beach police as backup to help them take the men into custody.
Marcus Laquan Jones, 41, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with possession of cocaine and sale of cocaine. Terrence Renard Johnson, 48, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with sale of cocaine. Vincent Joseph Jones, 70, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with sale of cocaine. Nason Vincent Jones, 32, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with sale of cocaine. Joshua Ahman Malachi Jones, 23, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with possession of cocaine. Ty’Lek Latroy Sharper, 18, of Fernandina Beach, is charged with sale of cocaine.
According to Leeper, the six men, whom investigators said are related to each other, are no strangers to law enforcement.
“If you look at the history of the six arrested, it’s not their first time,” Leeper said. “They have several arrests. I think just those six have a total of 116 arrests.”
All the drugs that were sold or confiscated are now sitting in a Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab, waiting to be analyzed.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues.
“There’s still an investigation to determine if we find other people doing the same thing in that area,” Leeper said.
Detectives said they are also trying to determine who in Jacksonville was supplying the cocaine and the length of that supply chain.