CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A California man considered by law enforcement to be a major player in an organized drug ring that trafficked multiple kilo quantities of fentanyl into Clay County has been taken into custody, News4JAX has learned.
Kevin Adams, 36, of Victorville, California, was captured by authorities in California and extradited to Florida to face a charge of fentanyl trafficking.
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According to investigators, Adams was one of the four main suspects who used the U.S. Postal Service to traffic multi-kilo quantities of fentanyl from California to post offices in Fleming Island, Orange Park, and Jacksonville. Jason Setzer, 46, of Orange Park, and Alvin Mercado, 38, of Fleming Island, are identified by authorities as the two other main suspects, both of whom are already in custody. Investigators told News4JAX that the investigation is still ongoing and that there are two more main suspects they are looking to capture.
While Mercado remains in jail on a $10,000,000 bond and Setzer remains in jail on a $17,000,000, a judge ordered that Adams remains in jail without bond.
Those three suspects were identified through an ongoing drug investigation called “Operation Lucky 777s.” The investigation was headed by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office with help from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and San Bernardino California Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the goal of “Operation Lucky 777s” was to disrupt and shut down an organized drug ring that trafficked kilo quantities of fentanyl and other dangerous and highly addictive narcotics from California to Northeast Florida, where the drugs were then sold on the streets.
ORIGINAL STORY: Clay County Sheriff’s Office disrupts drug trafficking operation between Florida & California
According to new information in an arrest warrant affidavit, Setzer and Mercado sent money from Clay County to Adams in California to pay for narcotics. Once Adams received the money, an unidentified suspect was tasked with packaging the drugs so they could be mailed to Florida, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also states that although Adams and the unidentified suspect were living in California, both men had previously lived in the Jacksonville area. The affidavit states that the unidentified suspect was sent to California to help Adams package narcotics that were being mailed to Florida.
According to investigators, the unidentified suspect moved to California following the overdose death of a woman inside an Orange Park home on William Paca Street that had been identified by authorities as a drug house. That fatal overdose happened in August 2021. Investigators said Setzer was the person living in the home at the time of the overdose.
New information about “Operation Lucky 777s” revealed that Setzer, Mercado, Adams, the unidentified fourth main suspect and the unidentified fifth main suspect all had ties to a Mexican drug cartel. Although the name of the cartel was not disclosed, investigators said, they learned that on eight occasions between April and August 2022, Adams and one of the other unknown main suspects crossed the U.S.-Mexican border on foot and in vehicles.
Several other suspects throughout Northeast Florida have also been arrested in connection with “Operation Lucky 777s,” but, according to investigators, those suspects were lower-level drug traffickers.
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Setzer and Mercado both have pretrial court dates scheduled for next Tuesday, while Adams is scheduled to go before a judge late next month.