$400,000 Worth Of Methamphetamine Trafficked Into Polk: Sheriff

WINTER HAVEN, FL — An undercover investigation led authorities to $400,000 worth of methamphetamine that was being trafficked into Polk County from Colorado, deputies said.

On October 4, authorities who posed as undercover drug buyers met suspects Myra Alejandra Meraz, 20, and Kevin Nieto-Figueroa, 21, of Georgia at an undisclosed location in Winter Haven, investigators said.

The suspects who thought they were having a drug transaction gave the undercover detectives 5 kilograms hidden in a box, detectives said.

Both Nieto-Figueroa and Meraz were placed under arrest on mutliple charges, authorities said.

Detectives accused Nieto-Figueroa of running drugs for a drug distibutor out of Colorado, 26-year-old Cristian Garcia-Cornejo.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office obtained a warrant for Cornejo on October 5, and Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office arrested Garcia-Cornejo. The suspect will be extradited to the Polk County Jail. Polk County Sheriff's Office on charges of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.

According to deputies, both Nieto-Figueroa and Meraz faces charges of trafficking in methamphetamine, conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia.

“Those coming into our country illegally with the sole intent to commit crimes must be held accountable and ultimately returned to their country of origin," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "Through strong law enforcement partnerships and great detective work, our community is safer because these dangerous drugs and dealers have been removed from our streets. Methamphetamine destroys people and families. Anyone who traffics and sells this poison is trafficking in death and destruction.”