Officials announced an arrest in a fentanyl trafficking investigation on Thursday.
Officials intercepted a suspicious package with an estimated 20,000 fentanyl pills found inside a microwave oven earlier this month. The pills weighed about 2 kilograms, which is enough to kill everyone in Hardee and Desoto County.
The suspect, identified as Derrail Kenyon Snell, 41, of Wauchula, purchased the microwave oven in Los Angeles and shipped it to Wauchula through a third-party shipping company, according to authorities.
On Feb. 9, the shipping company notified the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, although officials chose not to disclose why they determined the package to be suspicious.
The package, scheduled to be delivered to Hardee County, was seized and turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
An undercover detective delivered the package to the home, in which a woman took it inside the home. The package was never opened and it was never processed as being delivered.
On March 5, Snell was arrested for violating probation in Highlands County.
A search warrant was executed on a storage unit leased by Snell, in which authorities discovered an additional 2,000 fentanyl pills, more than 20 boxes of designer and high-end shoes, large amounts of clothing still wrapped in plastic, two plastic bags of fentanyl pills weighing 203.4 grams, $16,000, two handguns, and an AR-15 rifle.
Snell was arrested on charges including trafficking fentanyl over 28 grams, using a two-way communication device to commit a felony, and possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon. He was booked into the Highlands County Jail without bond.
The FDLE investigated this case alongside the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Snell had been previously arrested for aggravated assault, selling cocaine, possession of cannabis, and having a suspended license.