Six Arrested in Keys Drug Bust

A major drug operation in the Keys was disrupted Friday, leading to the arrest of six people on multiple drug-related charges.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office reports the Sheriff's detectives and the Special Weapons and Tactics Team gathered information for over a month's time, leading them to serve two search warrants simultaneously--- one on 2nd street and one on 11th avenue in Stock Island.

The search by Special Operations detectives revealed a crack cocaine lab at the 2nd street location that contained powdered cocaine, crack cocaine and about 350 grams of marijuana packaged for sale.

Detectives also found more $1,700 in cash, a handgun, and what appeared to be a pipe bomb, to which the Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad responded. They successfully evacuated the building, removed and destroyed the device. Robert Brown, a convicted felon, along with Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Horace Calhoun, Clarence Moore, Jr. and Shamichael Johnson were all at the apartment and taken into custody.

At the 11th avenue location, detectives found Marijuana, Oxycontin, crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and another handgun. Cash in the amount of more than $1,000 was seized as well. Tawana Blackman and Leroy Lawson were arrested at that location.

Colonel Rick Ramsay, who was there when the searches were conducted, said this was a large drug sales operation.

“These people were very organized and were selling lots of drugs,” he said. “With this operation, we are making a significant dent in the sales of illegal drugs on Stock Island.”