Bait and motorcycle shops acted as fronts for ‘family business’ drug ring, authorities say

LAKELAND, Fla. (WWSB/Gray News) – Dozens of people were arrested after a three-year investigation found that a family was using bait and motorcycle shops for front for their drug ring, according to authorities in Florida.

Authorities uncovered purchases of fentanyl from the Rooske drug trafficking organization which used the Rooske Bait and Tackle Shop and Rooske Motorcycle Parts and Accessories for drug trafficking and money laundering.

“In essence, this fentanyl trafficking organization was the family business. The motorcycle shop and the bait shop were corrupt businesses that were used as a means for money laundering,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “Their customers weren’t involved; they had no idea what was going on. In fact, the owners tried to project a wholesome facade while conducting their criminal enterprise behind the scenes until it all came crashing down on them, thanks to the fantastic work by our detectives.”

The leader of the organization was identified as Hector Baez Torres, 43. Co-conspirators were identified as his wife, Pilar Rivera, and their daughter, Jeimylee Baez Rivera. Torres’s “right-hand man” was identified as 24-year-old Miguel Castro Rivera.

Two suppliers of illegal drugs to the Rooske organization were identified as 26-year old Wilfredo Feliciano Velez and 59-year old Casimiro Bidot Del Valle.

Velez was arrested as he was delivering three kilograms of cocaine to Torres. Del Valle was arrested at his home during the execution of a search warrant.

On Jun 20, authorities executed search warrants at Rooske Motorcycle Parts and Accessories, Rooske Bait and Tackle Shop, Torres’s home, Baez Rivera’s home and two other homes.

In total, 742.14 grams of fentanyl, 3,585.42 grams of cocaine, 13.08 grams of methamphetamine, 57 grams of oxycodone and 228.69 of marijuana were seized.

The total street value of the seized illegal drugs is estimated to be worth $475,348.60.

More than $604,000 in assets were also seized including more than $12,270 in cash, five vehicles worth $154,000, two personal watercraft worth $15,000, dirt bikes and off-road vehicles worth $40,000, an enclosed trailer worth $4,000, merchandise from the bait shop worth $35,000, merchandise from the motorcycle shop worth $55,000, bank accounts with $40,000, liens on Torres’s home totaling $200,000 and other items such as jewelry, firearms and designer apparel worth $67,500.

Those assets, combined with the organization’s seized illegal drugs produced a total impact of $1,080,118.60 on the Rooske Drug Trafficking Organization.

In total, 64 people have been arrested in connection with the drug trafficking ring.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office said their investigation started in January 2021 and also involved the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Ashley Moody, Attorney General.

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