“Operation Heat Wave”: Largest Fentanyl Seizure in St. Tammany Parish History, 131 Arrests, Guns & Cash & Cars Seized

Over the past three months, the Slidell Police Department, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), worked together in a joint operation deemed “Operation Heat Wave”. 

The summer operation was led by the Slidell Police Department’s Narcotics Division, whose primary focus was to combat illegal drugs and violent crime within the City of Slidell. Many of the investigations extended way beyond the borders of Slidell. 

The SPD press release touts the operation's accomplishments:

• The largest Fentanyl seizure in the history of St. Tammany Parish. 11.5 Kilos of Fentanyl with an estimated street value of over $300K. Arrest led to a federal indictment.
• Two arrests of regional drug suppliers, who were selling large amounts of Fentanyl and Heroin. These two individuals were responsible for distributing Fentanyl daily to people on the Northshore and the New Orleans Metro Area.
• Second-Degree Murder Indictment of Fentanyl dealer, Rodney Reynolds (age 44 and of Slidell)
• Guns: 19 (Most of which were stolen and used in violent crimes. Some semi-automatic Glock handguns were turned into fully automatic handguns by utilizing an illegal “Glock Switch”)
• Arrests: 131 
• Fentanyl: 12 Kilos (total)
• Heroin: 105 grams 
• Methamphetamine: 134 grams 
• Cocaine: 52 grams 
• MDMA (Ecstasy): 1800 pills 
• Recovery of Stolen Vehicles: 3 
• Money seized: Over $43,000 in U.S. Currency
• Vehicles seized: 2 (one being a Maserati)

Throughout the operation, the Slidell Police Traffic Division, and newly formed Crime Suppression Unit (CSU), were instrumental with assisting in the take-down of several street level drug traffickers.

𝙎𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, “𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙎𝙩. 𝙏𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙊𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖. 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨, 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚…𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮.”