- April 26, 2024
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UPDATED June 7, 2016: One arrest listed below has been amended. The charges against Nabil Alnazir Ahmed were dropped in July 2013.
There were 14 arrests throughout several raids Thursday, as part of an investigation into a synthetic drug ring operating in the county.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
An Ormond Beach man was arrested and an Ormond Beach gas station was raided this week, during a county-led law enforcement sting.
Daniel Orr, 43, of Ormond Beach, was among the 14 people arrested Thursday, in connection with an investigation titled "Operation Tinker Bell," which focused on a synthetic drug ring operating within Volusia County, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Thursday press conference.
Agents with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, a multi-agency body, also raided several properties the same day, including the Texaco gas station at the intersection of Granada Boulevard and Yonge Street.
The illegal distribution ring was based out of New Smyrna Beach, the Sheriff’s Office said, and imported synthetic drugs from China and Canada to distribute around the country.
Synthetic drugs are usually marketed as a safer alternative to drugs like marijuana or cocaine. They’re chemically produced to mimic or enhance the effects of natural drugs.
Side effects of synthetic drugs can include chest pains, elevated blood pressure, panic attacks, extreme paranoia and even sleep deprivation-induced psychosis.
The Ormond Beach City Commission banned the sale of synthetic drugs in the city in December.
Racketeering was among the seven charges against Orr, in addition to possession of a structure used for the manufacture or sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and sale of a controlled substance. He is being held on $26,500 bond.
The investigation began in November, the Sheriff’s Office said, and culminated Thursday with the arrests, raids and seizure of “50 pounds of drugs and approximately $80,000 in cash from the organization.”
The operation had already seized approximately 6,700 grams of synthetic drugs prior to Thursday, including a drug called Star Dust, which was the inspiration for the operation's code name.
Loraine Kennelly, 55, of New Smyrna Beach, was arrested Thursday and, according to the Sheriff's Office, was the ringleader of the organization. Kennelly is the co-owner of LAD Enterprises, a New Smyrna Beach-based company closely connected to the drug ring.
Several LAD Enterprises employees were arrested Thursday, in addition to Kennelly’s husband and sister-in-law. The company “advertises on the Internet as a product marketing, development and distribution company,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
The organization had generated more than $100,000 in the past few months, according to reports, with the drugs packaged for retail sales.
Synthetic drugs are most popular among individuals under 25 years old, who, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, made up 60% of the 13,000 calls poison centers received in 2011 related to synthetic drugs, which was up from 2010 and the 3,200 related calls.
Others arrested
Nabil Alnazir Ahmed, 22, of Daytona Beach. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Ahmed's charges were dropped in July 2013.)
Libo C. Anderson, 44, of Oviedo.
Holden A. Bownds, 22, Denton, Tex.
Roger Allen Brummitt, 30, of Cape Coral.
Jennifer Lynn Hutchens, 29, of New Smyrna Beach.
Rangarao Juvvadi, 39, of Port Orange.
Christine Kennelly, 43, of Edgewater.
Michael James Kennelly, 49, of New Smyrna Beach.
Sean Nicholas Main, 32, of New Smyrna Beach.
Andrew James Mundell, 23, of New Smyrna Beach.
Saman Kantha Elgodage Ranawaka, 48, of Daytona Beach.
Christopher Richard Russell, 40.
