Will Greenlee

will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — Six pounds of marijuana, 150 hits of acid, 200 marijuana cigarettes, 100 hits of Ecstasy and prescription medication.

Those were among the smorgasbord of drugs the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday as being taken from amnesty containers or vehicles of those attending the recent Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, which drew thousands to the largely rural area March 2-5.

“We welcome anybody to Okeechobee to come and enjoy the music fest, however, we’re going to do everything we can to eliminate as many drugs coming in our county, being in our county,” said Michele Bell, Sheriff’s Office public information officer.

The drugs seized also included marijuana resin and candies, cocaine, methamphetamine, liquid LSD, mushrooms and dozens of nitrous oxide “whippets.”

Investigators also seized about 150 items of drug paraphernalia, including marijuana grinders, pipes and bongs.

“If somebody threw something in that amnesty (container), there was no questions asked,” Bell said.

Bell did not know how much came from the amnesty boxes, which she described as 55-gallon trash cans or drums, as opposed to canine searches of vehicles.

A total of 21 people who attended the four-day festival were arrested, the Sheriff’s Office stated.

“There was people not just smoking marijuana because that was everywhere. You could smell it,” she said. “Most of the people weren’t smoking it right in front of law enforcement.”

Bell said one man was dealing drugs inside.

“He didn’t even have enough sense to try to hide it,” she said. “So, obviously, he went to jail.”

MUG SHOTS: Highway interdiction operation arrest photos

Meanwhile, to the east in St. Lucie County, a variety of law enforcement agencies at the beginning on the festival arrested 76 people and issued 23 notices to appear in court during a drug interdiction operation.

The 99 arrests, which included many people from out of the area, came during the first two days of the sold-out festival.

“To have 99, it far exceeded anything we had anticipated,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said this week.

The drugs recovered included hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, Ecstasy, cocaine, synthetic marijuana, LSD, hydrocodone and heroin.

In addition to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, investigators with the Port St. Lucie Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol and federal agencies participated, sheriff’s officials said.

“As is with every interdiction, they are pulled over for traffic offenses, something alerts the officer involved to possible drug activity or drugs within the car and then the drug-sniffing dog is called to the scene,” Mascara said in explaining the initiative.