ORLANDO, Fla. —
An undercover operation targeting drug sales and alcohol violations at downtown Orlando bars and nightclubs led to 35 arrests, according to the Orlando Police Department.
Police said undercover officers bought illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and cannabis, at nine establishments.
The establishments included in the police report were Warped Pour, Elixir, Fixtion, Taco Kat, Aero, Celine, Sessions, Bullitt Bar and Stagger Inn.
Fourteen suspects face 33 charges, OPD said.
Officers also reported 19 violations involving after-midnight alcohol sales permits, including failures to properly search customers and scan IDs.
OPD said the establishments included Warped Pour, Elixir, Fixtion, La Rosa, Celine, Parlay, Bullitt Bar, Stagger Inn and Cosmo.
During the same period, police said officers also seized four firearms.
The department said crime in the downtown entertainment district decreased by 20% compared with the same period last year.
“We want to keep downtown safe and drug-free,” Orlando police Chief Eric Smith said.
Chief Smith told WESH 2 News he hopes drug dealers will think twice about trying to sell in downtown bars and clubs.
“Because in a nightclub or bar, you have no idea who’s the person you’re going to walk up to, whether they’re an undercover cop or not,” he said. “So hopefully, that’ll cause pause and be like, okay, I’m not going to do this downtown. We want to keep downtown as drug-free as possible.”
As part of the operation, Orlando police said an employee who worked at Elixir was arrested for possession and conspiracy to sell cocaine.
WESH 2 stopped by the business to speak with the owner of Elixir. He said he was shocked to learn about the arrest and added that employee hadn’t worked at his establishment in a few months.
“I’m always around, walking around downtown, wanting to speak to the nightclub owners and bar owners to see if we can improve in any way,” Chief Smith said.
He expressed concern about the bars and clubs that were not following late-night protocols meant to keep their patrons safe.
“To have it where people were not doing proper wanding and then also not using ID scanners, that was concerning to me because I don’t want a gun to get into one of our establishments,” Chief Smith said. “That’s very dangerous for all of us.”
While Florida is now an open-carry state, the chief said officers are proactively trying to get guns out of the wrong hands in downtown Orlando.
“We came across 250 guns, so 180 of those were legally carried,” Chief Smith said. “That’s people’s right. That’s fine. But then we made 69 arrests for weapons violations.”
In the last ten months, Chief Smith said police made 2,800 arrests downtown.