Chief Bernadette DiPino and members of the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division will hold a news conference tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 2 p.m., in the 2^nd Floor Community Room, 2099 Adams Lane, Sarasota.  Media planning to attend are asked to arrive by 1:45 p.m. to allow for an on-time start.

The news conference is in reference to a major operation that took place between June 2018 and October 2018.  The operation resulted in more than 35 arrests of street level drug dealers openly selling illegal narcotics in the City of Sarasota.  From the arrests made, individuals had more than 600 prior felony charges resulting in more than 250 prior felony convictions.

The Sarasota Police Department Narcotics Unit and Street Crimes Unit completed the operation with the purpose of disrupting open-air drug markets within the City of Sarasota.  The operation was conducted with undercover detectives making drug buys from suspected street level dealers in areas that intelligence-led policing proved to be highest in drug crimes.

Additional information will be released tomorrow afternoon.

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