Major heroin operation busted yards from Union Park Elementary School, officials say

ORLANDO, Fla. — Officials said it took nearly a year for undercover agents to bust a major heroin operation that was going on yards from an Orange County school but Channel 9 found the operation was allegedly back up in running in just weeks.

Thursday night, six people were taken into custody at the Lake Downey trailer park near Dean Road and Colonial Drive, close to Union Park Elementary School.

Some who were taken into custody Thursday were allegedly part of the first bust that happened in December. Authorities said one of those men had bonded out of jail in December for felony charges of trafficking heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

According to investigators, that man went right back to business and is now in jail with five others accused in the operation.

In the latest bust, investigators said they found 1,100 bags of heroin. They said the suspects didn’t veer far from the tactics they used before and that it was a $20,000-a-day operation.

The alleged lookouts used walkie-talkies to communicate with people inside the trailer as buyers came and went.

Channel 9's Renee Stoll went to the park Thursday night after the bust and saw at least a dozen suspected buyers walk up to the trailer and then leave when they noticed it was empty.

Stoll said she also noticed a chain-link fence was the only thing that separated the alleged drug home from the school's property.

Neighbors said they suspected something illegal was happening at the home.

“I had that feeling; I said this is going to happen again,” said one neighbor who didn’t want to be named. "I've seen needles on the floor.

A DEA agent who’s worked on both cases said more busts will likely happen in that area in the future.

WFTV