OCALA, FL (352today.com) -“Our secrecy is our success.” Those powerful words should act as a deterrent to any would be drug dealers or criminals who are thinking about violating the law.
The Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST) in Ocala and Marion County has been recognized by the Florida Narcotics Officers’ Association, as the Statewide Drug Unit of the Year for the fourth consecutive time.
“We’re very calculated about what we release and what we do and how we get that information out to the public,” says Capt. Robert Douglas, Ocala Police Department (OPD) and commander of UDEST in Marion County. “The good thing is we highlight things periodically to show the great work we’re doing behind the scenes. Our secrecy is our success.”
The program is an initiative of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and is federally funded. The team itself is composed of several agencies and government entities including local and federal agents from:
- Marion County Sheriff’s Office
- Ocala Police Department
- Department of Homeland Security
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- State Attorney’s Office
“We have local, state and federal partners that are part of our group that we work with daily and without these partnerships, we wouldn’t be successful,” says Douglas. “I’m proud to say that we have great working relationships with our counterparts in the prosecution in the State Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and I don’t think that we’ve had this much harmony with people working together in the past. I think one of the reasons that we’re so successful is because we’re so tight.”
The unit’s strength is very important, and their skills, reliability, and discipline have been key factors in their ongoing success. The primary objective of the UDEST is reduce the distribution and importing of drugs within Marion County. The unit seized $3.3 million worth of drugs and removed them from the streets in 2023.
“I think if it were not for the people that we have in place, the job they do – past, present and future – the problem that we have would be unimaginable,” says Douglas.
UDEST covertly investigates and enforces drug laws across the board for Ocala and Marion County, and they do that in multiple ways. The strong connections with other agencies and groups seem to have a natural flexibility, helping the team adjust and build a culture that leads to the best outcomes.
The drug enforcement strike team does more than just arrest criminals and seize drugs. Their impact is felt in many ways and has changed lives for the better.
“We offer a lot of programs in this community to help people with addiction, more than any community I’ve been involved in and more than any community that I’ve ever worked with,” says Douglas. “There’s a lot of helping hands around here. You have an aggressive enforcement side and there’s a therapeutic side.”
It’s those options that can make a difference and help people get back on the right path if they’re willing to change their lives. Fentanyl continues to be a major problem, but UDEST has played a significant role in limiting the number of deaths from drug overdoses.
“You don’t have too many law enforcement agencies where people can come up and say, ‘Hey, I want to get rid of these drugs and go to rehab right now and get fixed,'” says Douglas. “And not go to jail, not get prosecuted, and get the help they need. And honestly, as long you don’t have any warrants or have committed a horrific crime where we have to take you to jail, we’re going to get you some help and put you through the amnesty program.”
Douglas does issue a stern warning to anyone who is thinking about violating the law and the consequences they will face should they engage in criminal behavior or activities.
“If you come here and do these things, we will do our best to put you in prison for the rest of your natural life,” says Douglas. “That’s the main message. If you come here, live here and do these things, want to pollute the community; the men and women who work in it, the drug task force, these law enforcement agencies will do their best to put you in prison for the rest of your life, because that’s where you belong.”