Deadly pills disguised as OxyContin prepped and ready to sell
Florida Highway Patrol’s criminal unit made a significant narcotics arrest Thursday in St. Cloud, the agency has reported.
Jonathan Nicola, 22, of Kissimmee, was arrested on a number of charges after a pursuit. The vehicle he was driving contained some 15,000 Fentanyl pills made to look like OxyContin, troopers said.
During the afternoon, patroling in the area of Old Canoe Creek Road and Kissimmee Park Road, FHP’s Criminal Intervention Unit (CIU) witnessed a white Mercedes SUV unlawfully change lanes while cutting off a marked State Patrol unit, an incident report said.
The Mercedes appeared to have illegal tint, and the attached temporary tag did not return to any vehicle. As troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle fled and reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour, side-swiping another motorist, and driving in the oncoming lanes multiple times while being followed by marked units.
During the pursuit the driver, later identified as Nicola, failed to negotiate a curve and crashed.
Initially taken into custody for felony fleeing and eluding, among many other serious traffic related charges, there was more. As troopers cleared the vehicle to ensure no other occupants were present, a digital scale and numerous small baggies were observed within the driver’s door pocket. A K-9 unit was dispatched and, the K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics. A search of the vehicle found a loaded 9mm handgun, drug paraphernalia, and a box containing a clear vacuum-sealed bag containing the thousand of pills.
Verification of the vehicle confirmed it was stolen out of Lee County, with a fake temporary tag and cloned VINs on both the door and the window. Nicola, who FHP called “A habitual traffic offender” in its release — he has a 2020 charge of driving with a suspended license in Osceola County — was arrested and transported to the Orange County Jail.
The charges include seven felonies and a misdemeanor: trafficking four or more grams of fentanyl; synthetic narcotic manufacturing; possession of a controlled substance without a prescription; possession of drug equipment/paraphernalia used to manufacture/transport drugs; grand theft of a motor vehicle; possession of a vehicle with altered identification numbers; displaying a firearm while committing a felony; aggravated fleeing with injury or damage; and reckless driving with damage to a person or property.
