1 year later, final suspect arrested in Marion County prescription pill ring

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators said Marion County woman who was arrested recently is the last of nearly four-dozen suspects wanted in a major illegal prescription drug operation.

After more than a year on the run, 46-year-old Denise Trzeciak was taken into custody as part of Operation Blue Forest.

When the operation began last year, investigators said they wouldn’t give up until every suspect was in jail. On Monday, authorities said they made the final arrest in the case at the Sweet Seductions store along US-441 north of Ocala.

Authorities said they received tips that Trzeciak was dealing out of the business.

“And so, the detectives basically sat there and they waited,” said Judge Cochran of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. “And when she arrived, they were able to move in."

During her arrest, authorities said they found a couple of plastic baggies full of pills on Trzeciak.

When officers moved in, they found the suspect hiding in the shop’s bathroom.  They said she only had 169 prescription pills in plastic bags, but detectives said Trzeciak was once part of a much larger operation, and she could be charged with RICO.

In March, 2012, agents identified Eugene Bubba Ryals and 42 others as members of a major ring that was buying and selling prescription drugs.

Authorities seized thousands of pills, several guns and $17,000 in cash, but eight of the suspects remained on the run, including Treciak.

“You would think that if she had a warrant for her arrest for illegal activity, she would cease that activity.  But apparently she was not of that nature,” said Cochran.

Trzeciak is charged with drug possession and trafficking.

WFTV