Key West Police, Federal Agents Arrest Two in Searstown Drug Operation

Detectives and federal special agents arrested two men in the parking lot of Searstown on March 18 after a multi-agency undercover operation targeting cocaine sales in Key West, seizing 17.1 grams of cocaine, a drug-residue scale, and plastic baggies from a vehicle on the scene.

Maikel Rodriguez, 45, and Pedro Hernandez, 52, were taken into custody by the Key West Police Department's Special Investigations Unit working alongside Homeland Security Investigations, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Both were transported to the Monroe County Detention Center.

According to the Key West Police Department, Rodriguez sold trafficking amounts of cocaine to an operative on several occasions, with Hernandez serving as his driver, knowingly transporting Rodriguez to facilitate each sale. The arrest came when detectives and special agents moved in at Searstown, where a vehicle search turned up the cocaine, a digital scale with cocaine residue, and baggies consistent with narcotics distribution. Hernandez's vehicle was seized.

Rodriguez faces the more extensive charge sheet: three counts of trafficking cocaine, one count of sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church, one count of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, four counts of using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony, and one count of felony possession of drug paraphernalia. Hernandez was charged with one count of sale of cocaine.

The four-way law enforcement partnership, drawing in both local and federal resources, reflects the scope of the investigation. Charges against both men are allegations; neither has been adjudicated. Court records, bond amounts, and arraignment dates had not been made publicly available as of publication.