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Drug arrests 'pretty big,' sheriff says

Persistence pays off for detectives, who at last find probable cause to search and then make arrests. Loads of drugs and cash are confiscated.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published July 24, 2005

Detectives had been watching the 25-year-old for weeks. Friday night, they were tipped off he might be taking a load of drugs in his red Ford Explorer. So they tailed him until he made a mistake.

At a Shady Hills intersection, Randall Lewis "Peaches" Fite rolled through a stop sign, a sheriff's report says.

A sheriff's drug-sniffing dog quickly signaled, indicating drugs were inside. Now the detectives had cause for a search.

Inside, they found what they were looking for - and more.

The report says what they found included: about 2.3 pounds of cocaine, seven pounds of marijuana and 2.6 ounces of "meth ice," a highly purified, amped-up version of methamphetamine.

In all, the drugs were worth more than $30,000, Pasco sheriff's Lt. Robert Sullivan said Saturday. Detectives also seized a small handgun, he said.

After Fite's arrest, detectives went to a home at 7131 Coventry Drive in Port Richey, from where Fite had come.

There, Ronald Theodore "R2" Musson, 23, let them search inside. The detectives took about a quarter-pound of cocaine, more than a half-pound of marijuana, $24,000 in drug money and a sawed-off shotgun, Sullivan said.

"It is our theory and our belief that Musson is Fite's supplier," Sullivan said. "These guys aren't talking, so we're having to puzzle this together. It could be assumed that the reason Musson didn't have a whole lot of dope is because Fite had already picked up his supply from Musson."

Sullivan said the bust was a culmination of efforts by the Quad County Task Force, a team made up of investigators in the Pasco, Citrus and Sumter county sheriff's offices and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"When folks are toting around dope of that quantity, and they are arming themselves, I would consider these pretty nasty individuals," Sullivan said. "So I would consider this a pretty big arrest."

Fite, of 8349 Evergreen Ave. in Brooksville, and Musson both were being held in the county jail Saturday on drug trafficking charges. Weapons charges may be coming, Sullivan said. Fite was held in lieu of $315,500 bail, Musson in lieu of $60,500.

[Last modified July 24, 2005, 00:22:18]