Rodriguez Gomez also found to have about $12,000 in cash in small denominations
A 65-year-old Sarasota man was arrested and charged with trafficking in cocaine and other counts after Sarasota Police Department SWAT officers and Strategic Investigations Unit (SIU) detectives executed a narcotics search warrant on Jan. 16 at the Eighth Street home in Sarasota where he was living, the Police Department has reported.
Lazaro Armando Rodriguez Gomez, of 2105 Eighth St., was taken into custody at the residence, a news release said. (Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office records show that he is not the owner of that house, The Sarasota News Leaderlearned.)
Among the other charges, the release noted, he is facing a misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia.
The warrant was executed at 5:55 a.m. on Jan. 16, Rodriguez Gomez’s Probable Cause Affidavit said.
“During the search, detectives discovered approximately $12,000 cash in small denominations and 476 grams of cocaine in both rock and powder form,” the release pointed out.
“Detectives began the investigation after receiving a tip provided through the Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County hotline,” the release explained.
“This case remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the release added. “Anyone with any information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or you can remain anonymous and call Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-TIPS (8477).”
Details of the search and past offenses
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Rodriguez Gomez, in connection with his Jan. 16 arrest, said that when officers began searching the Eighth Street house, they found his Mexican passport, “as well as several other financial documents … and a quantity … of US currency. All of the denominations were consistent with the sale of narcotics and being able to quickly make change,” the affidavit explained.
Then, in the kitchen area, the affidavit continued, a detective “located several bags of suspect cocaine, in both rock and powder form, [plus a] large amount of US currency in small [denominations].” Further, it said, the detective found “several small working [digital] scales, all of which had suspected cocaine residue on them. All these items were located in the kitchen top drawers,” the affidavit noted.
In Rodriguez Gomez’s bedroom, another detective found “a large bag containing a large amount of US currency,” the affidavit added.
After he was read his Miranda rights, the affidavit said, Rodriguez Gomez “claimed ownership of the US currency found [throughout] the house including the currency in the kitchen but denied knowledge of the cocaine.” He told the detectives “that someone probably put the cocaine where his money was,” the affidavit added.
During a Jan. 26 News Leader review of the records maintained by Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing and her staff, the first case involving Rodriguez Gomez that the publication found showed that he was charged in February 2002 with loitering or prowling, which is a second-degree misdemeanor. That case ended up being dismissed — but not until September 2024, court records noted. The reason given for the dismissal was that the assistant state attorney handling the case had declined to pursue it. No Probable Cause Affidavit was available for review, the docket showed.
Then, in February 2005, Rodriguez Gomez was charged with counts of possessing both cocaine and marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver those drugs, court records said.
In March 2018, he was charged with dealing in stolen property and ended up being sentenced to 150 days in jail, plus 30 months on probation.
Then, the following month, he was charged again with dealing in stolen property, as well as the sale, manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance, which was identified as cocaine. That case ended up being consolidated with the one that began in March 2018, court records say.
Further, he has been cited for numerous traffic violations over the years, as noted in 12th Judicial Circuit Court records. Among those have been seat belt law violations; driving with a license that had been expired for more than four months, in April 2007 and again in May 2007; speeding, in January 2007, June 2008, September 2010 and November 2011, plus speeding in a school zone in August 2024; failure to drive in a single lane (January 2024); and, as the driver, having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle in January 2025.