JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A six-month investigation into a drug smuggling ring at the Duval County jail has resulted in 17 arrests so far, including a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office corrections officer, his sister and a city of Jacksonville Public Works employee, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters announced Tuesday.
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Waters said the lengthy investigation, dubbed Operation Snow Globe, uncovered widespread drug smuggling into the jail by Kobe Collett, who resigned following his arrest after a little over two years with JSO.
Collett was arrested Monday and charged with one count of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, a second-degree felony; three counts of criminal conspiracy, a third-degree felony; one count of money laundering, a third-degree felony; and one count of introduction of contraband into a detention facility, a third-degree felony.
The case has been turned over to the State Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Waters said the operation was sparked by a tip from a confidential source in October 2023, saying Collett was smuggling narcotics to inmates at the Duval County jail.
“This information received by detectives spurred a six-month-long investigation, which included extensive witness interviews, review of video evidence, and detailed examination of financial records,” Waters said. “On Oct. 23, we quickly stripped him of all of his authority as a correctional officer and removed him from the jail.”
Waters said Collett’s sister, Elisha Hughes, was also benefiting from the jail drug smuggling and has been charged with three counts of criminal conspiracy and one count of money laundering.
Also during the investigation, detectives uncovered that a public works employee, Corey Copeland, was dealing drugs to inmates who were on work crews that he supervised, Waters said.
Copeland is charged with on count of selling Schedule 1 or 2 synthetic narcotics, one count of giving or receiving any drug or controlled substance to an inmate of the county detention facility and one count of selling marijuana.
Waters said 14 inmates were also charged in the investigation, including one count of trafficking in fentanyl, 14 counts of giving or receiving any drug or controlled substance to an inmate of a county detention facility, 13 counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
“To be clear, we cannot affirmatively connect all these individuals’ arrests to the illegal narcotics distribution spearheaded by Collett,” Waters explained.
But, he said, it was the tip about Collett that spurred the investigation and led to Operation Snow Globe unearthing “a great deal about illegal narcotics activity in the jail.” Another seven warrants are outstanding in the operation.
Waters said improving the administration of the jail is a priority for his administration.
“Jails operate as a microcosm of our larger society. The same issues that plague our societies often find its way in our jails,” Waters said. “The illegal abuse of narcotics is no exception to this reality. The agency takes very seriously its responsibility to provide for the care of those who are detained in the Duval County jail.”
Waters said Collett is the fifth JSO employee to be arrested by his agency this year, and he’s frustrated.
“There’s nothing worse than an individual that takes a position of power -- like we have been given by the public -- and uses it for his own gain,” Waters said. “There’s nothing that police despise more than officers who dirty the badge, who disparage the agency of such an honorable profession, a profession that I have spent most of my life doing.”
Waters said Operation Snow Globe also prompted security changes at the jail to prevent future drug smuggling rings.
“The jail is a big building. There’s a lot of inmates in there, but I know that it was being spread out quite a bit. How vastly was it spread? I’m not quite sure,” Waters said.
He also had a message for those who want to join JSO for selfish reasons.
“If you want to come to JSO -- and we welcome the best and the brightest -- if you want to come to JSO and your intent is to come here and do something illegal, don’t, because we are going to find out,” Waters said. “If you want to come to here, come here because you want to be honest and you want to serve the people of this community.
“If you don’t want to serve the people of this community, you want to serve yourself, go work someplace else. Go be an independent contractor somewhere else. But don’t do it here.”