Counting 'em Down: For better or for worse, this is the Headline Surfer countdown of 2021's Top 100 biggest news stories of Central Florida along the tourism-driven stretch of Interstate 4 (Orlando Attractions and east to I-95 & the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona). Each recap segment is posted with its own headline, culminating with the unveiling of No. 1, before switching to the Top 5 storylines -- the good, the bad & the ugly on the horizon in "2022: The Year That Lies Ahead."
Headline Surfer photo illustration / José Alberto González Delgado of Orlando could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted of one or more of three fentanyl-related deaths after allegedly selling lethal doses to three men all found dead in an apartment on Nov. 29. Included is a CDC graphic on Fentanyl deaths.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police officers have arrested an alleged drug dealer accused of delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to three unsuspecting victims.
On Nov. 29, officers responded to the 5800 block of Curry Ford Road regarding a suspicious incident in which three men were found dead inside an apartment.
The investigation led officers to 27-year-old José Alberto González Delgado of Orlando.
González Delgado was arrested and booked into the Orange County Jail, where he remains without bond, charged with sale/delivery of controlled substances and three counts of first-degree murder resulting from the distribution of fentanyl.
According to OPD, Operation "Good Call" has yielded 69 arrests of mostly fentanyl drug dealers, the biggest of which is Delgado, who could get life in prison without the possibility of probation if convicted of one or more of the drug-related homicides.
The police department was called to an apartment on the 5800 block of Curry Ford Road for a suspicious incident on Nov. 29. Authorities say they found three men dead inside, calling the deaths suspicious in nature.
The case was handed over to Orlando PD's Special Enforcement Division’s Overdose Unit that began investigating.
A week later, authorities identified 27-year-old Delgado as the person who delivered the lethal doses.
In a press release, police brass said, “The Orlando Police Department will relentlessly target drug dealers selling deadly fentanyl and killing our neighbors.”
Orlando police Chief Orlando Rolón went further at a press conference.
“(Fentanyl) has taken a lot of lives, especially in Orange County,” Rolón said. “Just as in this case, many of the victims do not know they are purchasing fentanyl — poison. These drug dealers are either lacing the drugs they’re selling with fentanyl to stimulate the addiction and spike sales or they’re simply swapping the drugs.”
González Delgado, who remains behind bars at the Orange County Jail without bond, has pleaded not guilty.
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell said at the joint press conference with Rolón that her recently launched narcotics unit will handle the prosecution of González Delgado.
“We are committed to ensuring that we stop the overdose deaths by fentanyl in our community,” she said." Fentanyl has made its way into every drug in Central Florida, including counterfeit pills, cocaine, and methamphetamine.”
During the first six months of 2021, 86 percent of those who died from a drug overdose in Central Florida had fentanyl present in their bodies, she said.
Orlando cops identified the victims as José Carlos Munez, 22; Yesvin Welcher, 31, and Franklin Rivera Díaz, 27.
The three men were found dead on Nov. 29 inside an apartment in the 5800 block of Curry Ford Road. The investigation revealed one of the deceased men had purchased what he believed to be cocaine from González Delgado, cops said.
Rolón said responding cops found the situation “eerie” because it appeared the three men died quickly after ingesting the drug.
González Delgado allegedly told a witness that the man who bought drugs from him had asked for cocaine, but González Delgado didn’t have any at the time.
“José González told the witness that he still needed to make money, so he sold them what he still had on him, which was fentanyl,” one of the lead Orlando PD investigators said. “(He) told the witness that they would never know the difference — and unfortunately this was proven to be deadly wrong.”
OPD’s Special Enforcement Division has found fentanyl-laced in all types of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, MDMA, prescription pills, and even cannabis, police have said.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.