24 arrested in 'Operation Dirty Ink,' major drug operation in Pinellas County: PCSO

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. - The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office announced the dismantling of a significant drug trafficking operation that led to the arrest of 24 people and the seizure of drugs and money.

According to Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff's office arrested 24 people and seized about 12 kilograms of cocaine, as well as 3 kilograms of fentanyl. To put it in perspective, Gualtieri said, that's about 26.5 pounds of cocaine and 6.5 pounds of fentanyl. PCSO also seized about $237,000 in the search.

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"It takes such a minuscule amount of fentanyl to kill somebody," Gualtieri said. "There's about a million people that live in Pinellas County, and those three kilos yesterday could have killed every man, woman and child in Pinellas County and time and a half. That's a lot of dope for these people to put on the streets." 

Detectives also seized about $237,000 in the search of seven locations in St. Pete Tuesday. It was part of the Sheriff’s Office’s Operation Dirty Ink. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the St. Petersburg Police Department helped the Sheriff’s Office with the nearly year-long investigation. 

Gualtieri said the cocaine and fentanyl came across the Mexican border and then made it to Texas before getting moved to Pinellas County or other places. 

Several of those arrested have extensive criminal histories, including drug arrests, the sheriff said.

"These people who are constant recidivists are a big problem. The system is not working in that regard," he said.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on the scene of Star Status Ink on Tuesday, December 5.

The investigation into this operation began in January when PCSO received information that Jacob Land was selling drugs out of his business at Star Status Ink, a tattoo parlor in St. Petersburg.

Through investigation, they confirmed that Land was selling cocaine and fentanyl out of his business and home in St. Pete. PCSO also identified his distributors through investigation.

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The sheriff's office introduced an undercover detective to one of those distributors who made several purchases of fentanyl. An undercover detective was also introduced to Land himself, and bought about 1.5 kilograms of cocaine from him.

A car struck a parked car and plowed it through a home on 85th Avenue North on Tuesday, Dec. 6. 

According to Gualtieri, detectives planned on serving a warrant at Desmond Hargrove’s business, which is next to Land’s. They planned to arrest Hargrove for his role in connection to the operation. However, Hargrove left his business unexpectedly at around 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Deputies conducted a traffic stop on Hargrove's vehicle, but after initially stopping, Hargrove fled. He went westbound on 85th Avenue at about 100 miles per hour and struck a parked car, the sheriff said. 

The sheriff said Hargrove drove that car that he hit about 30 yards into the front side of a home on 85th Avenue, which then cracked the front concrete wall of the house. The parked car then entered a bedroom of a five-year-old boy who wasn’t home at the time. 

Hargrove is in the hospital with a broken leg and some other injuries, according to the sheriff. He will be taken to the Pinellas County Jail upon his release from the hospital.

The parked car careened through the bedroom of a 5-year-old, who the PCSO sheriff said was fortunately not home at the time.

"We don't want that situation, you know, that's just not good. It's not safe. And he [Hargrove], not us, but Hargrove is the one that put people in harm's way. He's the one that caused that by fleeing from the cops," Gualtieri said. 

"We took great steps to avoid that yesterday and had great success in the safety of this operation. But sometimes stupid people do stupid things. And he's a stupid person who did stupid stuff," Gualtieri said. 

The sheriff said that in addition to the drugs and money seized on Tuesday, authorities also seized several guns. 

Detectives used court ordered wire taps and electronic surveillance for the past two months to help bust the drug ring. This investigation used money from the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication grant that helps law enforcement agencies pay for drug trafficking operations.