A Grassy Key man was arrested Friday on a warrant following a January undercover operation in which he allegedly sold plastic to man under the guise that it was crack cocaine.
Manuel Antonio Artiles, 35, was charged with selling of a substance in lieu of a controlled substance.
On Jan. 2, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office detectives conducted an undercover buy operation with a confidential informant. The informant contacted a man he knew as “Manny,” identified as Artiles, and arranged to purchase $40 worth of crack cocaine.
The informant met with Artiles near 26th Street in Marathon, with Artiles conducting the sale from the passenger side of a vehicle. Afterward, the informant met with detectives and handed over the suspected cocaine. Inside, however, they found what appeared to be a piece of plastic weighing approximately one gram. A field test was conducted and the substance came back negative. It was later sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further testing, and the FDLE confirmed there were no narcotics identified on the piece of plastic.
A warrant for Artiles’ arrest was signed on May 7 by Monroe County Judge Ruth Becker. Artiles was arrested Friday and transported to the Monroe County Detention Center, where he was being held on a $30,000 bond.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
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