A routine traffic stop has landed a Sebring man in federal prison for more than a decade after agents say they pulled over his car and uncovered a massive stash of high-purity meth in the trunk.
Quincy Owens, 51, of Sebring, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison after prosecutors said law enforcement found more than 4,500 grams of pure methamphetamine in a large black bag inside his vehicle following the stop. Owens pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute on March 30. Prosecutors said the seizure capped a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation targeting local meth and fentanyl suppliers.
How prosecutors say they caught him
According to a plea agreement and prosecutors, Drug Enforcement Administration agents were conducting surveillance on Dec. 15, 2025, when they saw Owens accept a large black bag from an unidentified man and place it in the trunk of his car. The Florida Highway Patrol later conducted a traffic stop, a narcotics-detecting dog alerted to the vehicle, and a subsequent search turned up the bag, which prosecutors say contained more than 4,500 grams of pure methamphetamine. Those case details are outlined by WFTV.
Federal crackdown in Highlands County
The seizure in Owens' case is the latest high-quantity meth prosecution tied to Highlands County and surrounding communities, as federal and local partners step up enforcement against kilogram-level suppliers. For example, the Drug Enforcement Administration reported that a Sebring man, Luther Trovian Jones, was sentenced to about 121 months in June 2025 after investigators uncovered hundreds of grams of high-purity meth and fentanyl in that probe. The DEA framed that prosecution as part of a broader effort to disrupt regional supply chains and remove major suppliers from the streets, per the DEA.
What happens next
Owens’ plea and sentence were handled in federal court by prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, with the DEA and the Florida Highway Patrol credited as investigative partners, according to WFTV. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida posts similar federal drug announcements and case updates on its press page. Local agencies did not immediately provide further comment beyond the court filings reviewed for this reporting.
