Search warrants executed for homes in Bradenton and Sarasota
A 45-year-old Bradenton man has been arrested and charged with one count of Trafficking in Cocaine following collaboration of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Special Investigation Section (SIS) and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has reported.
“During the investigation, SIS detectives were able to make an undercover purchase of a trafficking amount of cocaine from Andres Rivero Gonzalez,” a news release says.
The Manatee County Probable Cause Affidavit for Gonzalez lists his address as 4914 60th Drive E. in Bradenton.
A bond advisory document filed in the case in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Sarasota notes that Gonzalez has been a self-employed construction worker for two years, but he is not a legal resident of the United States.
The Sheriff’s Office news release adds, “Probable cause was established to obtain search warrants authorizing searches of [the homes located at] 4914 60th Drive East [in] Bradenton and 3100 Lake Ridge Drive” in Sarasota.
On Sept. 11, the release continues, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office personnel, “with the assistance of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),” served the search warrant at 4914 60th Drive E. in Bradenton. Gonzalez, who was present at the time, “was taken into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant charging him with one count of Trafficking in Cocaine. Gonzalez was subsequently transported to the Manatee County jail without incident,” it adds.
“Simultaneous to the service of the warrant in Bradenton,” the release notes, the SCSO SWAT team, with the assistance of the Sarasota Police Department, served the search warrant at 3100 Lake Ridge Drive in Sarasota. “During the search of the residence, detectives located 299.5 grams of cocaine,” it points out.
The Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office records show that Luis Miguel Alfonso owns the property at 3100 Lake Ridge Drive. Alfonso’s address is listed on 51st Street in Sarasota.
The investigation is ongoing, the news release notes.
The Sarasota County arrest warrant for Gonzalez says that, on July 2, a briefing was held at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office about plans for an undercover purchase of cocaine from Gonzalez, with the detective handling the buy to pay $1,800.
Prior to the transaction, the warrant notes, the detective phoned Gonzalez, who agreed to meet the “buyer” in the parking lot located at 3301 17th St. in Sarasota.
The undercover detective ended up turning over the money to Gonzalez in the detective’s vehicle, the warrant continues. Gonzalez then gave the detective “suspected cocaine.”
The transaction was recorded on audio and video, the release points out.
Testing at the Sheriff’s Office determined with certainty that the substance that Gonzalez sold the detective was cocaine, the warrant adds. It weighed 57.2 grams, the warrant notes.