Drug bust at former daycare leads to 3 arrests

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Smiling decorations, brightly painted walls, and shadows of singing animals… It has the makings of a safe space for kids to learn and grow. But, JSO says it’s a Trap House: a place for drugs to be bought, sold and used.

Tonight, it was busted by the police.

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Three men were pulled from a former daycare and arrested Monday evening.

JSO tells Action News Jax there were several people inside the house and on the property; most of them were not cooperating.

Police said there would likely be felony drug charges filed.

Action News Jax spoke to some of the people that were inside the house once the scene was cleared who say there were no drugs on the property.

“No drugs were found, so I don’t understand why everyone went to jail.”

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JSO would not tell Action News Jax what kind of drugs they were looking for or expecting to find; the friends say they didn’t know.

“Do you know what they were looking for?

Drugs.

Do you know any specific kind?

No I don’t know any specifics. I just know they were looking for drugs, and they didn’t find any.”

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Our law and safety expert, Dale Carson, has years of experience in law-enforcement and is now an attorney. He says it doesn’t matter if there were no drugs on the property.

“They don’t have to find drugs at that location if they’ve done undercover buys,” Carson said.

Carson added that tonight’s events follow the pattern of a narcotics bust.

“There is an undercover operation, individuals go to what’s known as a trap house, and they buy narcotics.”

What was different was the venue. The “Trap House’' used to be a daycare. We got the property records that show the building has gone through several owners since then, but the decorations show the cartoon animals hanging on the walls have seen a lot.

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