On August 17, 2025, Haines City Police Department Officers Elam and Ramirez conducted a traffic stop in the area of Florida Avenue and B Street.
During the stop, the driver, identified as Jose Diaz Serrano, a 40-year-old male, consented to a search of his vehicle. Inside, Officer Elam located two loaded handgun magazines and a loaded Glock handgun.
After being asked to exit the vehicle, Diaz Serrano attempted to destroy evidence by throwing a bag believed to contain illegal drugs on the ground and dragging it with his foot. In plain view of the officers, he then shoved a tan bag into his underwear.
Once he was safely detained, officers recovered the bag, which contained:
- 19 individually packaged baggies of fentanyl
- 6 larger bags of fentanyl
- 1 baggie containing cocaine residue
In addition, officers located one larger bag of fentanyl in his front pocket. The powders inside all baggies field-tested positive for fentanyl, with a combined weight of approximately 10 grams.
Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous opioid, ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐. As little as ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ฌโ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ญโ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ.
Diaz Serrano was arrested and charged with:
- Armed Trafficking in Fentanyl
- Tampering with Evidence
- Possession of Cocaine
- Possession of Paraphernalia
- Maintaining a Drug Shop/Trafficking
- Resisting Officer Without Violence
โThis arrest highlights the dangers our officers face daily, as well as their dedication to protecting our community,โ said Chief Jay Hopwood. โWe are proud of their professionalism in removing dangerous drugs and a firearm from our streets.โ
The Haines City Police Department remains committed to safeguarding the community by aggressively pursuing illegal drugs and firearms.
Source: Haines City Police Department
