Walton County tackles spring break drugs

Walton County, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Deputies with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office are tackling drugs this spring break season.

Bureau Chief Uniform Patrol Robert Gray says during spring the number of drugs being brought into the area increases.

“Narcotics, marijuana, to cocaine, to meth and multiple other things... we’re over 2,000 traffic stops already this month,” Gray said.

But officials are ahead of the game. They’re beefing up staffing to stop trouble in its tracks.

“We triple our staffing during this time of the year when normal staffing is usually 10 to 15 deputies right now we’re averaging about 30 or 40 in the south end of the county,” said Gray.

Pumping the brakes on anyone disobeying traffics laws... from speeding to golf cart violations, and even not wearing a seatbelt. Sometimes a small offense can lead to a big bust.

“A seatbelt violation could lead into something a little bit more. It’s an investigation. People who are coming into our county to prey on our visitors are coming in vehicles,” said Gray. “They’re not in drones, they’re not coming in helicopters or whatever, they’re coming in vehicles. So, we address it at the traffic stop to hopefully stop them before they can get in here and commit crimes within our county.”

Officials said it’s all in an effort to keep the community safe, especially during spring break.

We’re told they have made multiple drug arrests as a result of a traffic stop violation.

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