For the first time since 2015, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has seen a decline in the amount of people dying from opioid overdoses. 

  • Manatee County seeing decline in fatal opioid overdoses 
  • Stiff penalties busting drug dealers
  • Majority of drugs coming from Mexico

It's largely because of local and federal law enforcement cutting off the supply of drugs. Stiff penalties have busted dealers, facing anywhere from 5 to 30 years in federal prison. 

In the last six months the sheriff's office said they've seized heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. The majority of the drugs have come from Mexico. 

"As of today, we have stopped the flow of hundreds of thousands of dollars of heroin into our communities and I think that it is safe to say that we saved a life," Jaime Camacho, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, said. 

Twenty more people are expected to be indicted in the investigation in the next couple of months.