Key Largo – Suspicious activity led to the arrest of two upper Keys teens for trafficking in MDMA, also known as Ecstasy.
Deputy Matthew O’Neill was on patrol at 9:50 p.m. Saturday on Hibiscus Lane in Key Largo. He saw a blue car parked in an empty lot with two people inside. The vehicle’s lights were on and, when the deputy drove by, the vehicle’s lights abruptly turned off. To see what was going on, the deputy pulled behind the car with his overhead lights on.
When he approached the driver, he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside. He called for backup. The driver was identified as a 16 year old male from Islamorada. The deputy recognized the passenger as 19 year old Andre Whitehead of Key Largo, someone he’d had previous contacts with. Both of them were acting very nervous, shaking and moving around in the car.
Inside the car, the deputy found a Tupperware container with a crystal substance inside, later identified as MDMA. In three other containers were empty pill capsules. Inside another container were some of the pill capsules filled with the same crystal substance. A small amount of marijuana was also found.
Whitehead denied knowing about the substance, even though it was in the front seat, adjacent to where he was sitting. The 16 year old admitted he’d gotten the ecstasy from someone in North Miami Beach and intended to sell them for $15 a pill.
Both were arrested and charged with trafficking in MDMA and possession of drug paraphernalia. Whitehead was booked into jail and the 16 year old was detained by the Department of Juvenile Justice.