POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force arrested 51 suspects and seized significant quantities of narcotics during two multi-agency operations.
Operations Bloodline and Flatline led to the seizure of 78 pounds of methamphetamine, 14.55 pounds of fentanyl, 13 firearms, and approximately $20,000.
The investigations focused on a drug trafficking organization active in Polk, Hillsborough, Osceola, Orange, Volusia, and Pasco counties. Detectives used resources from the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication grant, along with wiretaps and undercover surveillance, to penetrate the organization.
The investigation into Operation Bloodline started in August 2025. Detectives focused on Jemarion Young from Winter Haven, known as a Florida gang leader. Young is accused of collaborating with Spencer Leonard Jr. of Bartow to distribute drugs across Central Florida. He is currently held in Polk County Jail on various charges, including racketeering, conspiracy, and 12 counts of methamphetamine trafficking.
Investigators uncovered a supply route moving methamphetamine from California to Polk County. On December 15, 2025, detectives stopped a delivery containing 10 pounds of meth. Britney Jefferson from Winter Haven is charged with coordinating this shipment. She is the sister of two men who were arrested in a drug trafficking case in 2022.
Attorney General James Uthmeier described the scope of the distribution network. “This was a highly organized, fentanyl-pushing enterprise operating in Central Florida that had ties all the way to California,” Uthmeier said. “We will continue dismantling these organizations form the top down. Anyone who traffics these poisons in Florida will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
Operation Flatline started after a serious fentanyl overdose on December 23, 2025. Angela Valenta, 42, was discovered unresponsive in a hotel room in Lake Wales and is now hospitalized with minimal brain function. William Benjamin Newton Jr. is charged with providing the fentanyl to Valenta. During his arrest, authorities recovered 6.1 pounds of fentanyl and 1.4 pounds of cocaine.
Sheriff Grady Judd spoke about the danger these operations pose to the public. “Traffickers of methamphetamine and fentanyl are literally murdering people and tearing apart families,” Judd said. “The men and women who go after these drug dealers are doing a noble, but dangerous job—putting their own lives on the line, to protect their communities from the drug traffickers who are profiting from this destruction.”
The operations involved several other key figures, including a Tampa rapper named Joshua Puckelwartz, who uses the name Tommi Boy Wayne.
Puckelwartz was arrested on Jan. 28, 2026, after fleeing a traffic stop on Interstate 275 and crashing his vehicle. He was found in possession of approximately 12 pounds of methamphetamine. Michael Wells of Winter Haven was also arrested for allegedly participating in drug acquisitions with Young and Puckelwartz.
The investigation also focused on gang members who returned to drug trafficking shortly after being released from prison. Bruce Young was released on Nov. 29, 2025, after a seven-year sentence for methamphetamine trafficking and allegedly contacted Young the same day to resume operations.
Jerell Carr, also a gang member, was released in June 2025 and was arrested again in January 2026 after fleeing from authorities in Lakeland with cocaine and fentanyl in his possession.
Steven Jackson of Lakeland was identified as a fentanyl supplier for the organization. Jackson, a gang member, is currently in the Polk County Jail. He faces charges of armed trafficking in amphetamine, armed trafficking in fentanyl and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
William Benjamin Newton Jr. could face first-degree murder charges if Valenta dies from the overdose.
Most of the 51 suspects arrested remain in custody as legal proceedings move forward. Authorities are still seeking Young, who has an outstanding warrant for racketeering and trafficking.
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