Will Greenlee

will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Nearly 100 people were arrested on drug-related charges last week as part of a “highway interdiction operation” planned around the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and a release.

The 99 arrests came during the first two days of the sold-out festival in nearby Okeechobee County, with most of the arrests occurring on or near Okeechobee Road.

“To have 99, it far exceeded anything we had anticipated,” Mascara said Monday.

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

In addition to the 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.

Mascara said two-day interdiction efforts, typically done on Interstate 95 or Florida’s Turnpike, usually yield about 20 arrests.

“I think the arrests surpassed what we thought they would ever be,” he said.

Mascara said people need to just go to a house where a loved one or child has been lost to an overdose to see why they have such operations.

“A lot of these drugs can result in death and our goal is to get these dangerous drugs away from many of these young adults,” he said.

Many of those arrested have addresses listed out of the area or from other states.

Twenty three of the 99, received notices to appear in court, meaning they weren't taken to jail, a sheriff's official said.

Last year, more than 35,000 people from around the country camped out at Sunshine Grove in rural Okeechobee for four days of music at the inaugural event. This year's event was sold out with 40,000 tickets. It included performances from artists like Usher & the Roots, Kings of Leon and Wiz Khalifa.