Escambia sheriff: Pensacola drug bust nets enough fentanyl to kill 800,000 people

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons held a press conference Friday afternoon regarding the department's recent multi-home drug bust he dubbed "Operation Blue Christmas."

Between Dec. 9 and Dec. 15 the ECSO narcotics unit and Pensacola Police Department SWAT team seized 1,600 grams of fentanyl, which the sheriff said is enough to kill 800,000 people, from five different homes on Diego Circle, West Lloyd Street, Chapel Street and West Jackson Street.

"The DEA reports that 2 milligrams of fentanyl are lethal," Simmons said at the press conference. "That means we had enough lethal fentanyl to kill 800,000 people. That's enough to conceivably kill every person in Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Okaloosa County and Walton County."

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Along with serving five warrants, here are the sheriff's "totals for the week" in seizures from the five homes:

• 1,600 grams of fentanyl

• 3,268 grams of ecstasy

• 681 grams of meth

• 1,200 grams of crack cocaine

• 229 grams of powdered cocaine

• Over 25 pounds of marijuana

• 16 guns

• 3 vehicles

"I will tell you this: We are committed to stopping these people who are ruining our neighborhoods," Simmons said. "We're committed to stopping the ones who are bringing this stuff in. We're committed to stopping the ones who are selling it and opening up their homes for this type of dangerous behavior."

Simmons also said there was a 4-month-old child in the house laying next to powdered fentanyl and said the department is investigating that situation.

The reason Simmons said the operation was named "Operation Blue Christmas" is because of the blue pills that are laced with unknown amounts of fentanyl, leading to many overdoses in the community.

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Escambia County EMS crews responded to 1,095 overdose calls in 2021. The county is on track to nearly double that number in 2022, with 1,969 reported overdoses as of Dec. 12, according to a county EMS dashboard.

The sheriff also wanted this investigation to serve as "a Christmas gift" for the citizens of Escambia by ridding the streets of lethal drugs and weapons.

"I just want to say merry Christmas to Escambia County residents, certainly those that live in this area, and I want to say how proud I am of our narcotics unit and our partners here locally," Simmons said while concluding the press conference.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia deputies, Pensacola SWAT partner in huge Christmas drug bust